Properties of Thorne–Żytkow object explosions

Abstract

ABSTRACT Thorne–Żytkow objects are stars that have a neutron star core with an extended hydrogen-rich envelope. Massive Thorne–Żytkow objects are proposed to explode when the nuclear reactions sustaining their structure are terminated by the exhaustion of the seed elements. In this paper, we investigate the observational properties of the possible Thorne–Żytkow object explosions. We find that Thorne–Żytkow object explosions are observed as long-duration transients lasting for several years. If the accretion disc triggering the explosions does not last for a long time, Thorne–Żytkow object explosions have a luminosity plateau with about $10^{39}\, \mathrm{erg\, s^{-1}}$ lasting for a few years, and then they suddenly become faint. They would be observed as vanished stars after a bright phase lasting for a few years. If the accretion disc is sustained for long time, the Thorne–Żytkow object explosions become as bright as supernovae. They would be observed as supernovae with rise times of several hundred days. We found that their photospheric velocities are $2000\, \mathrm{km\, s^{-1}}$ at most, much smaller than those found in supernovae. Supernovae with extremely long rise times such as HSC16aayt and SN 2008iy may be related to the explosions of Thorne–Żytkow objects.