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Can Radio Astronomy Measurements Distinguish Between Black Hole and Neutron Star Tidal Disruption Events?

-- A.C. | August 27, 2021

Question:

Is it possible to distinguish from a radio astronomy observation signal between a neutron star tidal disruption event by a supermassive black hole and from a regular star tidal disruption event into the accretion disk?

As has recently been detected with gravitational waves.
“https://cns.utexas.edu/news/first-confirmed-detection-of-neutron-stars-crashing-into-black-holes”

Or is it even possible to tidally disrupt a neutron star by a SMBH and not just having it be “swallowed whole”

Thanks

-- A.C.

Answer:

I don’t believe that radio astronomical measurements can distinguish between neutron star and black hole tidal disruption events. I am not even sure that radio telescopes would be able to detect such phenomena, as I believe that the only tool we have to measure and distinguish such events are gravity wave measurements.

-- Jeff Mangum

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