Luminous red novae: Stellar mergers or giant eruptions?
Luminous red novae: Stellar mergers or giant eruptions?
We present extensive datasets for a class of intermediate-luminosity optical transients known as luminous red novae. They show double-peaked light curves, with an initial rapid luminosity rise to a blue peak (at −13 to −15 mag), which is followed by a longer-duration red peak that sometimes is attenuated, resembling a …