A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole

Andreoni, I, Coughlin, MW, Perley, DA, Yao, Y, Lu, W, Cenko, SB, Kumar, H, Anand, S, Ho, AYQ, Kasliwal, MM, de Ugarte Postigo, A, Sagués-Carracedo, A, Schulze, S, Kann, DA, Kulkarni, SR, Sollerman, J, Tanvir, N, Rest, A, Izzo, L, Somalwar, JJ et al (2022) A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole. Nature, 612. pp. 430-434. ISSN 0028-0836

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Abstract

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.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane; Dust; Synchrotrons; Aircraft; Aircraft; Dust; Synchrotrons; General Science & Technology
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions:	Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date of acceptance:	19 October 2022
Date of first compliant Open Access:	30 May 2023
Date Deposited:	04 Jan 2023 16:04
Last Modified:	30 May 2023 00:50
DOI or ID number:	10.1038/s41586-022-05465-8
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/18537

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