Publications by authors named "J Tonry"

Gravitational waves were discovered with the detection of binary black-hole mergers and they should also be detectable from lower-mass neutron-star mergers. These are predicted to eject material rich in heavy radioactive isotopes that can power an electromagnetic signal. This signal is luminous at optical and infrared wavelengths and is called a kilonova.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Super-luminous supernovae that radiate more than 10(44) ergs per second at their peak luminosity have recently been discovered in faint galaxies at redshifts of 0.1-4. Some evolve slowly, resembling models of 'pair-instability' supernovae.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Pan-STARRS, ATLAS and optical transient searches.

Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci

June 2013

The Pan-STARRS1 survey is collecting multi-epoch, multi-colour observations of the sky north of declination -30°, and has designated 70 deg(2) for nightly observations that are particularly useful for transient detection. A duplicate, Pan-STARRS2, is nearing completion that offers opportunities to improve the quality of transient search and observation, as well as simply increasing the number of detections. A new system, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), increases the search area to all-sky in return for diminished sensitivity, and highlights tension among optimization for static sky images, optimization for faint transients and optimization for an unbiased number of transients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax and is acquired by three routes of infection: inhalational, gastrointestinal and cutaneous. Gastrointestinal (GI) anthrax is rare, but can rapidly result in severe, systemic disease that is fatal in 25%-60% of cases. Disease mechanisms of GI anthrax remain unclear due to limited numbers of clinical cases and the lack of experimental animal models.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF