Stellar oscillations induced by the passage of a fast stellar object

Abstract

We investigate induced oscillations by the gravitational field of a fast stellar object, such as a neutron star or a black-hole in a near miss collision with another star. Non-adiabatic collision conditions may lead to large amplitude oscillations in the star. We show that for a solar-type star a resonant condition can be achieved by a fast moving stellar object with velocity in the range of 100 km/s to 1000 km/s, passing at a distance of a few multiples of the star radius. Although such collisions are rare, they are more frequent than head-on collisions, and their effects could be observed through a visible change of the star luminosity occurring within a few hours.