A New Way to Detect Massive Black Holes in Galaxies: The Stellar Remnants of Tidal Disruption
Abstract
We point out that the tidal disruption of a giant may leave a luminous (1035-1039 ergs s-1), hot (10-100 eV) stellar core. The ``supersoft'' source detected by Chandra at the center of M31 may be such a core; whether or not it is, the observations have shown that such a core is detectable, even in the center of a galaxy. We therefore explore the range of expected observational signatures and how they may be used to (1) test the hypothesis that the M31 source is a remnant of tidal stripping and (2) discover evidence of black holes and disruption events in other galaxies.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- April 2001
- DOI:
- 10.1086/319835
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0112434
- Bibcode:
- 2001ApJ...551L..37D
- Keywords:
-
- Galaxies: Individual: Messier Number: M31;
- X-Rays: Stars;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Four pages with 1 figure. Appeared in ApJL (2001, 551, L37)