A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole
| Title: | A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole |
|---|---|
| Authors: | I Andreoni; MW Coughlin; DA Perley; Y Yao; W Lu; SB Cenko; H Kumar; S Anand; AYQ Ho; MM Kasliwal; A de Ugarte Postigo; A Sagués-Carracedo; S Schulze; DA Kann; SR Kulkarni; J Sollerman; N Tanvir; A Rest; L Izzo; JJ Somalwar; DL Kaplan; T Ahumada; GC Anupama; K Auchettl; S Barway; EC Bellm; V Bhalerao; JS Bloom; M Bremer; M Bulla; E Burns; S Campana; P Chandra; P Charalampopoulos; J Cooke; V D’Elia; KK Das; D Dobie; JFA Fernández; J Freeburn; C Fremling; S Gezari; S Goode; MJ Graham; E Hammerstein; VR Karambelkar; CD Kilpatrick; EC Kool; M Krips; RR Laher; G Leloudas; A Levan; MJ Lundquist; AA Mahabal; MS Medford; MC Miller; A Möller; KP Mooley; AJ Nayana; G Nir; PTH Pang; E Paraskeva; RA Perley; G Petitpas; M Pursiainen; V Ravi; R Ridden-Harper; R Riddle; M Rigault; AC Rodriguez; B Rusholme; Y Sharma; IA Smith; RD Stein; C Thöne; A Tohuvavohu; F Valdes; J van Roestel; SD Vergani; Q Wang; J Zhang |
| Publication Year: | 2022 |
| Collection: | University of Leicester: Figshare |
| Subject Terms: | Uncategorised value |
| Description: | Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are bursts of electromagnetic energy that are released when supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies violently disrupt a star that passes too close1. TDEs provide a window through which to study accretion onto supermassive black holes; in some rare cases, this accretion leads to launching of a relativistic jet2–9, but the necessary conditions are not fully understood. The best-studied jetted TDE so far is Swift J1644+57, which was discovered in γ-rays, but was too obscured by dust to be seen at optical wavelengths. Here we report the optical detection of AT2022cmc, a rapidly fading source at cosmological distance (redshift z = 1.19325) the unique light curve of which transitioned into a luminous plateau within days. Observations of a bright counterpart at other wavelengths, including X-ray, submillimetre and radio, supports the interpretation of AT2022cmc as a jetted TDE containing a synchrotron ‘afterglow’, probably launched by a supermassive black hole with spin greater than approximately 0.3. Using four years of Zwicky Transient Facility10 survey data, we calculate a rate of 0.02−0.01+0.04 per gigapascals cubed per year for on-axis jetted TDEs on the basis of the luminous, fast-fading red component, thus providing a measurement complementary to the rates derived from X-ray and radio observations11. Correcting for the beaming angle effects, this rate confirms that approximately 1 per cent of TDEs have relativistic jets. Optical surveys can use AT2022cmc as a prototype to unveil a population of jetted TDEs. |
| Document Type: | article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Relation: | 2381/21731462.v1; https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/A_very_luminous_jet_from_the_disruption_of_a_star_by_a_massive_black_hole/21731462 |
| Availability: | https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/A_very_luminous_jet_from_the_disruption_of_a_star_by_a_massive_black_hole/21731462 |
| Rights: | All Rights Reserved |
| Accession Number: | edsbas.49DE0BBC |
| Database: | BASE |