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A population of highly energetic transient events in the centres of active galaxies

A population of highly energetic transient events in the centres of active galaxies
A population of highly energetic transient events in the centres of active galaxies
Recent all-sky surveys have led to the discovery of new types of transients. These include stars disrupted by the central supermassive black hole, and supernovae that are 10–100 times more energetic than typical ones. However, the nature of even more energetic transients that apparently occur in the innermost regions of their host galaxies is hotly debated1,2,3. Here we report the discovery of the most energetic of these to date: PS1-10adi, with a total radiated energy of ~2.3 × 1052 erg. The slow evolution of its light curve and persistently narrow spectral lines over ∼ 3 yr are inconsistent with known types of recurring black hole variability. The observed properties imply powering by shock interaction between expanding material and large quantities of surrounding dense matter. Plausible sources of this expanding material are a star that has been tidally disrupted by the central black hole, or a supernova. Both could satisfy the energy budget. For the former, we would be forced to invoke a new and hitherto unseen variant of a tidally disrupted star, while a supernova origin relies principally on environmental effects resulting from its nuclear location. Remarkably, we also discover that PS1-10adi is not an isolated case. We therefore surmise that this new population of transients has previously been overlooked due to incorrect association with underlying central black hole activity.
2397-3366
865-871
Kankare, E.
6916c889-bb78-4713-b504-b14093e3acf7
Kotak, R.
6d19c46a-7f54-44b6-909a-2e7764f83bdb
Inserra, Cosimo
004da73f-5b5e-43f4-b1a7-aaa0e579672e
Kankare, E.
6916c889-bb78-4713-b504-b14093e3acf7
Kotak, R.
6d19c46a-7f54-44b6-909a-2e7764f83bdb
Inserra, Cosimo
004da73f-5b5e-43f4-b1a7-aaa0e579672e

Kankare, E., Kotak, R. and Inserra, Cosimo (2017) A population of highly energetic transient events in the centres of active galaxies. Nature Astronomy, 1, 865-871. (doi:10.1038/s41550-017-0290-2).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Recent all-sky surveys have led to the discovery of new types of transients. These include stars disrupted by the central supermassive black hole, and supernovae that are 10–100 times more energetic than typical ones. However, the nature of even more energetic transients that apparently occur in the innermost regions of their host galaxies is hotly debated1,2,3. Here we report the discovery of the most energetic of these to date: PS1-10adi, with a total radiated energy of ~2.3 × 1052 erg. The slow evolution of its light curve and persistently narrow spectral lines over ∼ 3 yr are inconsistent with known types of recurring black hole variability. The observed properties imply powering by shock interaction between expanding material and large quantities of surrounding dense matter. Plausible sources of this expanding material are a star that has been tidally disrupted by the central black hole, or a supernova. Both could satisfy the energy budget. For the former, we would be forced to invoke a new and hitherto unseen variant of a tidally disrupted star, while a supernova origin relies principally on environmental effects resulting from its nuclear location. Remarkably, we also discover that PS1-10adi is not an isolated case. We therefore surmise that this new population of transients has previously been overlooked due to incorrect association with underlying central black hole activity.

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Accepted/In Press date: 25 September 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 November 2017

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 417673
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/417673
ISSN: 2397-3366
PURE UUID: 0ba67127-2361-45b8-9059-52eb3191d286
ORCID for Cosimo Inserra: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3968-4409

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Date deposited: 09 Feb 2018 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:10

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Author: E. Kankare
Author: R. Kotak
Author: Cosimo Inserra ORCID iD

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