Instruct: Identify the main and secondary category of Arxiv papers based on the titles and abstracts
Query: Did a close tidal encounter cause the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse?   We assess whether gravity darkening, induced by a tidal interaction during a
stellar fly-by, might be sufficient to explain the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse.
Adopting several simple approximations, we calculate the tidal deformation and
associated gravity darkening in a close tidal encounter, as well as the
reduction in the radiation flux as seen by a distant observer. We show that, in
principle, the duration and degree of the resulting stellar dimming can be used
to estimate the minimum pericenter separation and mass of a fly-by object,
which, even if it remains undetected otherwise, might be a black hole, neutron
star, or white dwarf. Our estimates show that, while such fly-by events may
occur in other astrophysical scenarios, where our analysis should be
applicable, they likely are not large enough to explain the Great Dimming of
Betelgeuse by themselves.

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The categories of this paper are: cond-mat
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The categories of this paper are: acc-phys
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The categories of this paper are: eess
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The categories of this paper are: stat
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The categories of this paper are: nucl-ex
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The categories of this paper are: cmp-lg
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The categories of this paper are: nlin
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The categories of this paper are: adap-org
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The categories of this paper are: nucl-th
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The categories of this paper are: comp-gas
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The categories of this paper are: physics
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The categories of this paper are: hep-ph
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The categories of this paper are: math-ph
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The categories of this paper are: hep-lat
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The categories of this paper are: chem-ph
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The categories of this paper are: funct-an