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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/28730
Title: | The fast, luminous ultraviolet transient AT2018cow: extreme supernova, or disruption of a star by an intermediate-mass black hole? | Authors: | Perley, Daniel A. Mazzali, Paolo A. Yan, Lin Cenko, S. Bradley Gezari, Suvi Taggart, Kirsty Blagorodnova, Nadia Fremling, Christoffer Mockler, Brenna Singh, Avinash Tominaga, Nozomu Tanaka, Masaomi Watson, Alan M. Ahumada, Tomás Anupama, G. C. Ashall, Chris Becerra, Rosa L. Bersier, David Bhalerao, Varun Bloom, Joshua S. Butler, Nathaniel R. Copperwheat, Chris Coughlin, Michael W. De, Kishalay Drake, Andrew J. Duev, Dmitry A. Frederick, Sara González, J. Jesús Goobar, Ariel Heida, Marianne Ho, Anna Y. Q. Horst, John Hung, Tiara Itoh, Ryosuke Jencson, Jacob E. Kasliwal, Mansi M. Kawai, Nobuyuki Khanam, Tanazza Kulkarni, Shrinivas R. Kumar, Brajesh Kumar, Harsh Kutyrev, Alexander S. Lee, William H. Maeda, Keiichi Mahabal, Ashish Murata, Katsuhiro L. Neill, James D. Ngeow, Chow-Choong Penprase, Bryan PIAN, Elena Quimby, Robert Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico Richer, Michael G. Román-Zúñiga, Carlos G. Sahu, D. K. Srivastav, Shubham Socia, Quentin Sollerman, Jesper Tachibana, Yutaro Taddia, Francesco Tinyanont, Samaporn Troja, Eleonora Ward, Charlotte Wee, Jerrick Yu, Po-Chieh |
Issue Date: | 2019 | Journal: | MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY | Number: | 484 | Issue: | 1 | First Page: | 1031 | Abstract: | Wide-field optical surveys have begun to uncover large samples of fast (t<SUB>rise</SUB> ≲ 5 d), luminous (M<SUB>peak</SUB> < -18), blue transients. While commonly attributed to the breakout of a supernova shock into a dense wind, the great distances to the transients of this class found so far have hampered detailed investigation of their properties. We present photometry and spectroscopy from a comprehensive worldwide campaign to observe AT 2018cow (ATLAS 18qqn), the first fast-luminous optical transient to be found in real time at low redshift. Our first spectra (<2 days after discovery) are entirely featureless. A very broad absorption feature suggestive of near-relativistic velocities develops between 3 and 8 days, then disappears. Broad emission features of H and He develop after >10 days. The spectrum remains extremely hot throughout its evolution, and the photospheric radius contracts with time (receding below R < 10<SUP>14</SUP> cm after 1 month). This behaviour 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. | URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/28730 | URL: | https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/484/1/1031/5257847 | ISSN: | 0035-8711 | DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/sty3420 | Bibcode ADS: | 2019MNRAS.484.1031P | Fulltext: | open |
Appears in Collections: | 1.01 Articoli in rivista |
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Perley_2019_AT2018cow.pdf | PDF editoriale | 3.17 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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