  Close encounters between stellar-mass black holes (BHs) and stars occur
frequently in dense star clusters and in the disks of active galactic nuclei
(AGNs). Recent studies have shown that in highly eccentric close encounters,
the star can be tidally disrupted by the BH (micro-tidal disruption event, or
micro-TDE), resulting in rapid mass accretion and possibly bright
electromagnetic signatures. Here we consider a scenario in which the star might
approach the stellar-mass BH in a gradual, nearly circular inspiral, under the
influence of dynamical friction on a circum-binary gas disk or three-body
interactions in a star cluster. We perform hydro-dynamical simulations of this
scenario using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code PHANTOM. We find that
the mass of the star is slowly stripped away by the BH. We call this gradual
tidal disruption a "tidal-peeling event", or a TPE. Depending on the initial
distance and eccentricity of the encounter, TPEs might exhibit significant
accretion rates and orbital evolution distinct from those of a typical
(eccentric) micro-TDE.
