SIFTING FOR SAPPHIRES: SYSTEMATIC SELECTION OF TIDAL DISRUPTION EVENTS IN iPTF.

We present results from a systematic selection of tidal disruption events (TDEs) in a wide-area (4800 deg2), g + R band, Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) experiment. Our selection targets typical optically-selected TDEs: bright (>60% flux increase) and blue transients residing in the center of red galaxies. Using photometric selection criteria to down-select from a total of 493 nuclear transients to a sample of 26 sources, we then use follow-up UV imaging with the Neil Gehrels Swift Telescope, ground-based optical spectroscopy, and light curve fitting to classify them as 14 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), 9 highly variable active galactic nuclei (AGNs), 2 confirmed TDEs, and 1 potential core-collapse supernova. We find it possible to filter AGNs by employing a more stringent transient color cut (g - r < -0.2 mag); further, UV imaging is the best discriminator for filtering SNe, since SNe Ia can appear as blue, optically, as TDEs in their early phases. However, when UV-optical color is unavailable, higher precision astrometry can also effectively reduce SNe contamination in the optical. Our most stringent optical photometric selection criteria yields a 4.5:1 contamination rate, allowing for a manageable number of TDE candidates for complete spectroscopic follow-up and real-time classification in the ZTF era. We measure a TDE per galaxy rate of 1.7 - 1.3 + 2.9 × 10 - 4 gal - 1 yr - 1 (90% CL in Poisson statistics). This does not account for TDEs outside our selection criteria, thus may not reflect the total TDE population, which is yet to be fully mapped.

A likely inverse-Compton emission from the Type IIb SN 2013df.

The inverse-Compton X-ray emission model for supernovae has been well established to explain the X-ray properties of many supernovae for over 30 years. However, no observational case has yet been found to connect the X-rays with the optical lights as they should be. Here, we report the discovery of a hard X-ray source that is associated with a Type II-b supernova. Simultaneous emission enhancements have been found in both the X-ray and optical light curves twenty days after the supernova explosion. While the enhanced X-rays are likely dominated by inverse-Compton scatterings of the supernova's lights from the Type II-b secondary peak, we propose a scenario of a high-speed supernova ejecta colliding with a low-density pre-supernova stellar wind that produces an optically thin and high-temperature electron gas for the Comptonization. The inferred stellar wind mass-loss rate is consistent with that of the supernova progenitor candidate as a yellow supergiant detected by the Hubble Space Telescope, providing an independent proof for the progenitor. This is also new evidence of the inverse-Compton emission during the early phase of a supernova.

An extremely luminous X-ray outburst at the birth of a supernova.

Massive stars end their short lives in spectacular explosions--supernovae--that synthesize new elements and drive galaxy evolution. Historically, supernovae were discovered mainly through their 'delayed' optical light (some days after the burst of neutrinos that marks the actual event), preventing observations in the first moments following the explosion. As a result, the progenitors of some supernovae and the events leading up to their violent demise remain intensely debated. Here we report the serendipitous discovery of a supernova at the time of the explosion, marked by an extremely luminous X-ray outburst. We attribute the outburst to the 'break-out' of the supernova shock wave from the progenitor star, and show that the inferred rate of such events agrees with that of all core-collapse supernovae. We predict that future wide-field X-ray surveys will catch each year hundreds of supernovae in the act of exploding.