Richard Dekany
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View article: Discovery of SN 2025wny: A Strongly Gravitationally Lensed Superluminous Supernova at <i>z</i> = 2.01
Discovery of SN 2025wny: A Strongly Gravitationally Lensed Superluminous Supernova at <i>z</i> = 2.01 Open
We present the discovery of SN 2025wny (ZTF25abnjznp/GOTO25gqt) and spectroscopic classification of this event as the first gravitationally lensed Type I superluminous supernova (SLSN-I). Deep ground-based follow-up observations resolve fo…
View article: Prediscovery Activity of New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS: Rapid Brightening from 6 to 4 au
Prediscovery Activity of New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS: Rapid Brightening from 6 to 4 au Open
We report on the prediscovery observations and constraints of the new interstellar comet 3I/2025 N1 (ATLAS), made by the Zwicky Transient Facility, for the inbound leg of the comet out to a heliocentric distance of r h = 17 au, or approxim…
View article: SN 2021lwz: Another Exotic Luminous and Fast Evolving Optical Type Ic Broad-Lined Supernova ?
SN 2021lwz: Another Exotic Luminous and Fast Evolving Optical Type Ic Broad-Lined Supernova ? Open
Context. Current large-scale, high-cadence surveys, such as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), provide detections of new and rare types of transients and supernovae whose physical origins are not well understood. Aims. We investigate the…
View article: QZO: A Catalog of 5 Million Quasars from the Zwicky Transient Facility
QZO: A Catalog of 5 Million Quasars from the Zwicky Transient Facility Open
Machine learning methods are well established in the classification of quasars (QSOs). However, the advent of light-curve observations adds a great amount of complexity to the problem. Our goal is to use the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)…
View article: AppleCiDEr II: SpectraNet -- A Deep Learning Network for Spectroscopic Data
AppleCiDEr II: SpectraNet -- A Deep Learning Network for Spectroscopic Data Open
Time-domain surveys such as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) have opened a new frontier in the discovery and characterization of transients. While photometric light curves provide broad temporal coverage, spectroscopic observations rema…
View article: Prediscovery Activity of New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS: A Dynamically-Old Comet?
Prediscovery Activity of New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS: A Dynamically-Old Comet? Open
We report on the prediscovery observations and constraints of the new interstellar comet 3I/2025 N1 (ATLAS), made by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), for the inbound leg of the comet out to a heliocentric distance of $r_\mathrm{h}=17$ …
View article: ZTF SN Ia DR2 follow-up: Exploring the origin of the Type Ia supernova host galaxy step through Si II velocities
ZTF SN Ia DR2 follow-up: Exploring the origin of the Type Ia supernova host galaxy step through Si II velocities Open
The relationship between Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and their host galaxy stellar masses is well documented. In particular, Hubble residuals display a luminosity shift based on host mass, known as the mass step, which is often used as an …
View article: AT2019cmw: A highly luminous, cooling featureless TDE candidate from the disruption of a high mass star in an early-type galaxy
AT2019cmw: A highly luminous, cooling featureless TDE candidate from the disruption of a high mass star in an early-type galaxy Open
We present optical/UV photometric and spectroscopic observations, as well as X-ray and radio follow-up, of the extraordinary event AT2019cmw. With a peak bolometric luminosity of ~$\mathrm{10^{45.6}\,erg\,s^{-1}}$, it is one of the most lu…
View article: Twin peaks: SN 2021uvy and SN 2022hgk in the landscape of double-peaked stripped envelope supernovae
Twin peaks: SN 2021uvy and SN 2022hgk in the landscape of double-peaked stripped envelope supernovae Open
In recent years, a class of stripped-envelope supernovae (SESNe) showing two distinct light-curve peaks has emerged, where the first peak cannot be attributed to shock cooling emission. Such peculiar SNe are often studied individually, exp…
View article: In Search of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroids in the Taurid Resonant Swarm
In Search of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroids in the Taurid Resonant Swarm Open
The Taurid Complex is a large interplanetary system that contains comet 2P/Encke, several meteoroid streams, and possibly a number of near-Earth asteroids. The size and nature of the system have led to the speculation that it was formed th…
View article: VLASS Tidal Disruption Events with Optical Flares. I. The Sample and a Comparison to Optically Selected TDEs
VLASS Tidal Disruption Events with Optical Flares. I. The Sample and a Comparison to Optically Selected TDEs Open
In this work, we use the Jansky Very Large Array Sky Survey to compile the first sample of six radio-selected tidal disruption events (TDEs) with transient optical counterparts. While we still lack the statistics to do detailed population …
View article: In Search of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroids in the Taurid Resonant Swarm
In Search of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroids in the Taurid Resonant Swarm Open
The Taurid Complex is a large interplanetary system that contains comet 2P/Encke, several meteoroid streams, and possibly a number of near-Earth asteroids. The size and nature of the system has led to the speculation that it was formed thr…
View article: ZTF SN Ia DR2: Colour standardisation of type Ia supernovae and its dependence on the environment
ZTF SN Ia DR2: Colour standardisation of type Ia supernovae and its dependence on the environment Open
Context. As type Ia supernova cosmology transitions from a statistics-dominated to a systematics-dominated era, it is crucial to understand the remaining unexplained uncertainties that affect their luminosity, such as those stemming from a…
View article: Candidate strongly lensed type Ia supernovae in the Zwicky Transient Facility archive
Candidate strongly lensed type Ia supernovae in the Zwicky Transient Facility archive Open
Context. Gravitationally lensed type Ia supernovae (glSNe Ia) are unique astronomical tools that can be used to study cosmological parameters, distributions of dark matter, the astrophysics of the supernovae, and the intervening lensing ga…
View article: Expanding the Ultracompacts: Gravitational-wave-driven Mass Transfer in the Shortest-period Binaries with Accretion Disks
Expanding the Ultracompacts: Gravitational-wave-driven Mass Transfer in the Shortest-period Binaries with Accretion Disks Open
We report the discovery of three ultracompact binary white dwarf systems hosting accretion disks, with orbital periods of 7.95, 8.68, and 13.15 minutes. This significantly augments the population of mass-transferring binaries at the shorte…
View article: Expanding the ultracompacts: gravitational wave-driven mass transfer in the shortest-period binaries with accretion disks
Expanding the ultracompacts: gravitational wave-driven mass transfer in the shortest-period binaries with accretion disks Open
We report the discovery of three ultracompact binary white dwarf systems hosting accretion disks, with orbital periods of 7.95, 8.68, and 13.15 minutes. This significantly augments the population of mass-transferring binaries at the shorte…
View article: Eruptive mass loss less than a year before the explosion of superluminous supernovae: I. The cases of SN 2020xga and SN 2022xgc
Eruptive mass loss less than a year before the explosion of superluminous supernovae: I. The cases of SN 2020xga and SN 2022xgc Open
We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN 2020xga and SN 2022xgc, two hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) at $z = 0.4296$ and $z = 0.3103$, respectively, which show an additional set of broad Mg II absorption…
View article: ZTF SN Ia DR2: The spectral diversity of Type Ia supernovae in a volume-limited sample
ZTF SN Ia DR2: The spectral diversity of Type Ia supernovae in a volume-limited sample Open
More than 3000 spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are presented in the Zwicky Transient Facility SN Ia Data Release 2 (ZTF DR2). In this paper, we detail the spectral properties of 482 SNe Ia near maximum light, up to …
View article: ZTF SN Ia DR2: Colour standardisation of Type Ia Supernovae and its dependence on environment
ZTF SN Ia DR2: Colour standardisation of Type Ia Supernovae and its dependence on environment Open
As type Ia supernova (SN Ia) cosmology transitions from a statistics-dominated to a systematics-dominated era, it is crucial to understand the remaining unexplained uncertainties that affect their luminosity, such as those stemming from as…
View article: Spectroscopic observations of progenitor activity 100 days before a Type Ibn supernova
Spectroscopic observations of progenitor activity 100 days before a Type Ibn supernova Open
Obtaining spectroscopic observations of the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae is often unfeasible, due to an inherent lack of knowledge as to what stars experience supernovae and when they will explode. In this Letter we present phot…
View article: Four new eclipsing accreting ultracompact white dwarf binaries found with the Zwicky Transient Facility
Four new eclipsing accreting ultracompact white dwarf binaries found with the Zwicky Transient Facility Open
Context. Accreting ultracompact white dwarf binaries contain a white dwarf that is accreting from a degenerate object. They have orbital periods shorter than 65 min. Aims. We report the discovery and the orbital period of four new eclipsin…
View article: Establishing accretion flares from supermassive black holes as a source of high-energy neutrinos
Establishing accretion flares from supermassive black holes as a source of high-energy neutrinos Open
The origin of cosmic high-energy neutrinos remains largely unexplained. For high-energy neutrino alerts from IceCube, a coincidence with time-variable emission has been seen for three different types of accreting black holes: (1) a gamma-r…
View article: Collapsars as Sites of r-process Nucleosynthesis: Systematic Photometric Near-infrared Follow-up of Type Ic-BL Supernovae
Collapsars as Sites of r-process Nucleosynthesis: Systematic Photometric Near-infrared Follow-up of Type Ic-BL Supernovae Open
One of the open questions following the discovery of GW170817 is whether neutron star (NS) mergers are the only astrophysical sites capable of producing r -process elements. Simulations have shown that 0.01–0.1 M ⊙ of r -process material c…
View article: Four new eclipsing accreting ultracompact white dwarf binaries found with the Zwicky Transient Facility
Four new eclipsing accreting ultracompact white dwarf binaries found with the Zwicky Transient Facility Open
Context. Accreting ultracompact binaries contain a white dwarf that is accreting from a degenerate object and have orbital periods shorter than 65 minutes. Aims. The aims of this letter are to report the discovery and the orbital period of…
View article: A 12.4 day periodicity in a close binary system after a supernova
A 12.4 day periodicity in a close binary system after a supernova Open
Neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes are the remnants of massive star explosions. Most massive stars reside in close binary systems, and the interplay between the companion star and the newly formed compact object has been theoretica…
View article: VLASS tidal disruption events with optical flares I: the sample and a comparison to optically-selected TDEs
VLASS tidal disruption events with optical flares I: the sample and a comparison to optically-selected TDEs Open
In this work, we use the Jansky VLA Sky Survey (VLASS) to compile the first sample of six radio-selected tidal disruption events (TDEs) with transient optical counterparts. While we still lack the statistics to do detailed population studi…
View article: The development of HISPEC for Keck and MODHIS for TMT: science cases and predicted sensitivities
The development of HISPEC for Keck and MODHIS for TMT: science cases and predicted sensitivities Open
HISPEC is a new, high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph being designed for the W.M. Keck II telescope. By offering single-shot, R 100,000 spectroscopy between 0.98 – 2.5 µm, HISPEC will enable spectroscopy of transiting and non-transit…
View article: The development of HISPEC for Keck and MODHIS for TMT: science cases and predicted sensitivities
The development of HISPEC for Keck and MODHIS for TMT: science cases and predicted sensitivities Open
HISPEC is a new, high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph being designed for the W.M. Keck II telescope. By offering single-shot, R=100,000 between 0.98 - 2.5 um, HISPEC will enable spectroscopy of transiting and non-transiting exoplanet…
View article: Tidal Disruption Event Demographics with the Zwicky Transient Facility: Volumetric Rates, Luminosity Function, and Implications for the Local Black Hole Mass Function
Tidal Disruption Event Demographics with the Zwicky Transient Facility: Volumetric Rates, Luminosity Function, and Implications for the Local Black Hole Mass Function Open
We conduct a systematic tidal disruption event (TDE) demographics analysis using the largest sample of optically selected TDEs. A flux-limited, spectroscopically complete sample of 33 TDEs is constructed using the Zwicky Transient Facility…