The fast, luminous ultraviolet transient AT2018cow: extreme supernova, or disruption of a star by an intermediate-mass black hole?

By D. Perley, P. Mazzali, Lin Yan, S. Cenko, S. Gezari, Kirsty Taggart, N. Blagorodnova, C. Fremling, B. Mockler, Avinash Singh and 53 more. Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2018

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Wide-field optical surveys have begun to uncover large samples of fast (t_rise 10 days. The spectrum remains extremely hot throughout its evolution, and the photospheric radius contracts with time (receding below R<10^14 cm after 1 month). This behavior does not match that of any known supernova, although a relativistic jet within a fallback supernova could explain some of the observed features. Alternatively, the transient could originate from the disruption of a star by an intermediate-mass black hole, although this would require long-lasting emission of highly super-Eddington thermal radiation. In either case, AT 2018cow suggests that the population of fast luminous transients represents a new class of astrophysical event. Intensive follow-up of this event in its late phases, and of any future events found at comparable distance, will be essential to better constrain their origins.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ab20d4e9064627a96e991a2418d315355c9af9d6