Did a close tidal encounter cause the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse?

Author:

Aronson Hailey1,Baumgarte Thomas W1ORCID,Shapiro Stuart L23

Affiliation:

1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Bowdoin College , Brunswick, ME 04011, USA

2. Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA

3. Department of Astronomy and NCSA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Abstract

ABSTRACT We assess whether gravity darkening, induced by a tidal interaction during a stellar fly-by, might be sufficient to explain the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse. Adopting several simple approximations, we calculate the tidal deformation and associated gravity darkening in a close tidal encounter, as well as the reduction in the radiation flux as seen by a distant observer. We show that, in principle, the duration and degree of the resulting stellar dimming can be used to estimate the minimum pericentre separation and mass of a fly-by object, which, even if it remains undetected otherwise, might be a black hole, neutron star, or white dwarf. Our estimates show that, while such fly-by events may occur in other astrophysical scenarios, where our analysis should be applicable, they likely are not large enough to explain the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse by themselves.

Funder

National Science Foundation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics

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