Stellar pulsations excited by a scattered mass - art. no. 124020.

We compute the energy spectra of the gravitational signals emitted when a m ass m(0) is scattered by the gravitational held of a star of mass M much gr eater than m(0). We show that, unlike black holes in similar processes, the quasinormal modes of the star are excited, and the amount of energy emitte d in these modes depends on how close the exciting mass can get to the star . [S0556-2821(99)05112-7].