The superluminous transient aSaSSn-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole

G. Leloudas; M. Fraser; N. C. Stone; S. Van Velzen; P. G. Jonker; I. Arcavi; C. Fremling; J. R. Maund; S. J. Smartt; T. Krühler; J. C.A. Miller-Jones; P. M. Vreeswijk; A. Gal-Yam; P. A. Mazzali; A. De Cia; D. A. Howell; C. Inserra; F. Patat; A. De Ugarte Postigo; O. Yaron; C. Ashall; I. Bar; H. Campbell; T. W. Chen; M. Childress; N. Elias-Rosa; J. Harmanen; G. Hosseinzadeh; J. Johansson; T. Kangas; E. Kankare; S. Kim; H. Kuncarayakti; J. Lyman; M. R. Magee; K. Maguire; D. Malesani; S. Mattila; C. V. McCully; M. Nicholl; S. Prentice; C. Romero-Cañizales; S. Schulze; K. W. Smith; J. Sollerman; M. Sullivan; B. E. Tucker; S. Valenti; J. C. Wheeler; D. R. Young

doi:10.1038/s41550-016-0002

The superluminous transient aSaSSn-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole

G. Leloudas^*, M. Fraser, N. C. Stone, S. Van Velzen, P. G. Jonker, I. Arcavi, C. Fremling, J. R. Maund, S. J. Smartt, T. Krühler, J. C.A. Miller-Jones, P. M. Vreeswijk, A. Gal-Yam, P. A. Mazzali, A. De Cia, D. A. Howell, C. Inserra, F. Patat, A. De Ugarte Postigo, O. YaronC. Ashall, I. Bar, H. Campbell, T. W. Chen, M. Childress, N. Elias-Rosa, J. Harmanen, G. Hosseinzadeh, J. Johansson, T. Kangas, E. Kankare, S. Kim, H. Kuncarayakti, J. Lyman, M. R. Magee, K. Maguire, D. Malesani, S. Mattila, C. V. McCully, M. Nicholl, S. Prentice, C. Romero-Cañizales, S. Schulze, K. W. Smith, J. Sollerman, M. Sullivan, B. E. Tucker, S. Valenti, J. C. Wheeler, D. R. Young

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

119 Scopus citations

Abstract

When a star passes within the tidal radius of a supermassive black hole, it will be torn apart¹. For a star with the mass of the Sun (M) and a non-spinning black hole with a mass <10⁸M, the tidal radius lies outside the black hole event horizon² and the disruption results in a luminous flare^3–6. Here we report observations over a period of ten months of a transient, hitherto interpreted⁷ as a superluminous supernova⁸. Our data show that the transient rebrightened substantially in the ultraviolet and that the spectrum went through three different spectroscopic phases without ever becoming nebular. Our observations are more consistent with a tidal disruption event than a superluminous supernova because of the temperature evolution⁶, the presence of highly ionized CNO gas in the line of sight⁹ and our improved localization of the transient in the nucleus of a passive galaxy, where the presence of massive stars is highly unlikely^10,11. While the supermassive black hole has a mass >10⁸M^12,13, a star with the same mass as the Sun could be disrupted outside the event horizon if the black hole were spinning rapidly¹⁴. The rapid spin and high black hole mass can explain the high luminosity of this event.

Original language	American English
Article number	0002
Journal	Nature Astronomy
Volume	1
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-016-0002
State	Published - 1 Jan 2017
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We acknowledge support from the European Union FP7 programme through the following European Research Council grants: 320360 (M.F., H.C.), 647208 (P.G.J.), 291222 (S.J.S.), 615929 (M.S.). We also acknowledge: Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship PF5-160145 (N.C.S.), Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship HST-HF2-51350 (S.v.V.), STFC grants ST/I001123/1 ST/L000709/1 (S.J.S.) and ST/L000679/1 (M.S.), Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT140101082 (J.C.A.M.-J.), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (J.R.M.), a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award to P. Schady (T.Kr., T.-W.C.), a Ramón y Cajal fellowship and the Spanish research project AYA 2014-58381 (A.de U.P.), CONICYT-Chile FONDECYT grants 3130488 (S.K.), 3140534 (S.S.), 3140563 (H.K.), 3150238 (C.R.-C.), a PRIN-INAF 2014 project (N.E.-R.), support from IDA (D.M.), an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (K.M.), CAASTRO project number CE110001020 (B.E.T.), National Science Foundation grant AST 11-09881 and NASA grant HST-AR-13726.02 (J.C.W.). This work used observations from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and was based upon work supported by National Science Foundation grant 1313484. The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Australian Government for operation as a National Facility managed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. This work was based partially on observations collected as part of the Public European Southern Observatory Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects Survey (PESSTO) under European Southern Observatory (ESO) programmes 188.D-3003 and 191.D-0935, and on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under programme ID 095.D-0633. We thank M. Della Valle for comments.

Funding Information:
We acknowledge support from the European Union FP7 programme through the following European Research Council grants: 320360 (M.F., H.C.), 647208 (P.G.J.), 291222 (S.J.S.), 615929 (M.S.). We also acknowledge: Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship PF5-160145 (N.C.S.), Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship HST-HF2-51350 (S.v.V.), STFC grants ST/I001123/1 ST/L000709/1 (S.J.S.) and ST/L000679/1 (M.S.), Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT140101082 (J.C.A.M.-J.), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (J.R.M.), a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award to P. Schady (T.Kr., T.-W.C.), a Ram?n y Cajal fellowship and the Spanish research project AYA 2014-58381 (A.de U.P.), CONICYT-Chile FONDECYT grants 3130488 (S.K.), 3140534 (S.S.), 3140563 (H.K.), 3150238 (C.R.-C.), a PRIN-INAF 2014 project (N.E.-R.), support from IDA (D.M.), an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (K.M.), CAASTRO project number CE110001020 (B.E.T.), National Science Foundation grant AST 11-09881 and NASA grant HST-AR-13726.02 (J.C.W.). This work used observations from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and was based upon work supported by National Science Foundation grant 1313484. The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Australian Government for operation as a National Facility managed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. This work was based partially on observations collected as part of the Public European Southern Observatory Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects Survey (PESSTO) under European Southern Observatory (ESO) programmes 188.D-3003 and 191.D-0935, and on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under programme ID 095.D-0633. We thank M. Della Valle for comments.

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© 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.

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Leloudas, G., Fraser, M., Stone, N. C., Van Velzen, S., Jonker, P. G., Arcavi, I., Fremling, C., Maund, J. R., Smartt, S. J., Krühler, T., Miller-Jones, J. C. A., Vreeswijk, P. M., Gal-Yam, A., Mazzali, P. A., De Cia, A., Howell, D. A., Inserra, C., Patat, F., De Ugarte Postigo, A., ... Young, D. R. (2017). The superluminous transient aSaSSn-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole. Nature Astronomy, 1(1), Article 0002. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-016-0002

@article{b38da10a2f684f929e302f18c136ca8e,

title = "The superluminous transient aSaSSn-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole",

abstract = "When a star passes within the tidal radius of a supermassive black hole, it will be torn apart1. For a star with the mass of the Sun (M) and a non-spinning black hole with a mass <108M, the tidal radius lies outside the black hole event horizon2 and the disruption results in a luminous flare3–6. Here we report observations over a period of ten months of a transient, hitherto interpreted7 as a superluminous supernova8. Our data show that the transient rebrightened substantially in the ultraviolet and that the spectrum went through three different spectroscopic phases without ever becoming nebular. Our observations are more consistent with a tidal disruption event than a superluminous supernova because of the temperature evolution6, the presence of highly ionized CNO gas in the line of sight9 and our improved localization of the transient in the nucleus of a passive galaxy, where the presence of massive stars is highly unlikely10,11. While the supermassive black hole has a mass >108M12,13, a star with the same mass as the Sun could be disrupted outside the event horizon if the black hole were spinning rapidly14. The rapid spin and high black hole mass can explain the high luminosity of this event.",

author = "G. Leloudas and M. Fraser and Stone, {N. C.} and {Van Velzen}, S. and Jonker, {P. G.} and I. Arcavi and C. Fremling and Maund, {J. R.} and Smartt, {S. J.} and T. Kr{\"u}hler and Miller-Jones, {J. C.A.} and Vreeswijk, {P. M.} and A. Gal-Yam and Mazzali, {P. A.} and {De Cia}, A. and Howell, {D. A.} and C. Inserra and F. Patat and {De Ugarte Postigo}, A. and O. Yaron and C. Ashall and I. Bar and H. Campbell and Chen, {T. W.} and M. Childress and N. Elias-Rosa and J. Harmanen and G. Hosseinzadeh and J. Johansson and T. Kangas and E. Kankare and S. Kim and H. Kuncarayakti and J. Lyman and Magee, {M. R.} and K. Maguire and D. Malesani and S. Mattila and McCully, {C. V.} and M. Nicholl and S. Prentice and C. Romero-Ca{\~n}izales and S. Schulze and Smith, {K. W.} and J. Sollerman and M. Sullivan and Tucker, {B. E.} and S. Valenti and Wheeler, {J. C.} and Young, {D. R.}",

note = "Funding Information: We acknowledge support from the European Union FP7 programme through the following European Research Council grants: 320360 (M.F., H.C.), 647208 (P.G.J.), 291222 (S.J.S.), 615929 (M.S.). We also acknowledge: Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship PF5-160145 (N.C.S.), Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship HST-HF2-51350 (S.v.V.), STFC grants ST/I001123/1 ST/L000709/1 (S.J.S.) and ST/L000679/1 (M.S.), Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT140101082 (J.C.A.M.-J.), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (J.R.M.), a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award to P. Schady (T.Kr., T.-W.C.), a Ram{\'o}n y Cajal fellowship and the Spanish research project AYA 2014-58381 (A.de U.P.), CONICYT-Chile FONDECYT grants 3130488 (S.K.), 3140534 (S.S.), 3140563 (H.K.), 3150238 (C.R.-C.), a PRIN-INAF 2014 project (N.E.-R.), support from IDA (D.M.), an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (K.M.), CAASTRO project number CE110001020 (B.E.T.), National Science Foundation grant AST 11-09881 and NASA grant HST-AR-13726.02 (J.C.W.). This work used observations from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and was based upon work supported by National Science Foundation grant 1313484. The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Australian Government for operation as a National Facility managed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. This work was based partially on observations collected as part of the Public European Southern Observatory Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects Survey (PESSTO) under European Southern Observatory (ESO) programmes 188.D-3003 and 191.D-0935, and on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under programme ID 095.D-0633. We thank M. Della Valle for comments. Funding Information: We acknowledge support from the European Union FP7 programme through the following European Research Council grants: 320360 (M.F., H.C.), 647208 (P.G.J.), 291222 (S.J.S.), 615929 (M.S.). We also acknowledge: Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship PF5-160145 (N.C.S.), Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship HST-HF2-51350 (S.v.V.), STFC grants ST/I001123/1 ST/L000709/1 (S.J.S.) and ST/L000679/1 (M.S.), Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT140101082 (J.C.A.M.-J.), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (J.R.M.), a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award to P. Schady (T.Kr., T.-W.C.), a Ram?n y Cajal fellowship and the Spanish research project AYA 2014-58381 (A.de U.P.), CONICYT-Chile FONDECYT grants 3130488 (S.K.), 3140534 (S.S.), 3140563 (H.K.), 3150238 (C.R.-C.), a PRIN-INAF 2014 project (N.E.-R.), support from IDA (D.M.), an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (K.M.), CAASTRO project number CE110001020 (B.E.T.), National Science Foundation grant AST 11-09881 and NASA grant HST-AR-13726.02 (J.C.W.). This work used observations from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and was based upon work supported by National Science Foundation grant 1313484. The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Australian Government for operation as a National Facility managed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. This work was based partially on observations collected as part of the Public European Southern Observatory Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects Survey (PESSTO) under European Southern Observatory (ESO) programmes 188.D-3003 and 191.D-0935, and on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under programme ID 095.D-0633. We thank M. Della Valle for comments. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.",

year = "2017",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41550-016-0002",

language = "American English",

volume = "1",

journal = "Nature Astronomy",

issn = "2397-3366",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "1",

}

Leloudas, G, Fraser, M, Stone, NC, Van Velzen, S, Jonker, PG, Arcavi, I, Fremling, C, Maund, JR, Smartt, SJ, Krühler, T, Miller-Jones, JCA, Vreeswijk, PM, Gal-Yam, A, Mazzali, PA, De Cia, A, Howell, DA, Inserra, C, Patat, F, De Ugarte Postigo, A, Yaron, O, Ashall, C, Bar, I, Campbell, H, Chen, TW, Childress, M, Elias-Rosa, N, Harmanen, J, Hosseinzadeh, G, Johansson, J, Kangas, T, Kankare, E, Kim, S, Kuncarayakti, H, Lyman, J, Magee, MR, Maguire, K, Malesani, D, Mattila, S, McCully, CV, Nicholl, M, Prentice, S, Romero-Cañizales, C, Schulze, S, Smith, KW, Sollerman, J, Sullivan, M, Tucker, BE, Valenti, S, Wheeler, JC & Young, DR 2017, 'The superluminous transient aSaSSn-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole', Nature Astronomy, vol. 1, no. 1, 0002. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-016-0002

TY - JOUR

T1 - The superluminous transient aSaSSn-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole

AU - Leloudas, G.

AU - Fraser, M.

AU - Stone, N. C.

AU - Van Velzen, S.

AU - Jonker, P. G.

AU - Arcavi, I.

AU - Fremling, C.

AU - Maund, J. R.

AU - Smartt, S. J.

AU - Krühler, T.

AU - Miller-Jones, J. C.A.

AU - Vreeswijk, P. M.

AU - Gal-Yam, A.

AU - Mazzali, P. A.

AU - De Cia, A.

AU - Howell, D. A.

AU - Inserra, C.

AU - Patat, F.

AU - De Ugarte Postigo, A.

AU - Yaron, O.

AU - Ashall, C.

AU - Bar, I.

AU - Campbell, H.

AU - Chen, T. W.

AU - Childress, M.

AU - Elias-Rosa, N.

AU - Harmanen, J.

AU - Hosseinzadeh, G.

AU - Johansson, J.

AU - Kangas, T.

AU - Kankare, E.

AU - Kim, S.

AU - Kuncarayakti, H.

AU - Lyman, J.

AU - Magee, M. R.

AU - Maguire, K.

AU - Malesani, D.

AU - Mattila, S.

AU - McCully, C. V.

AU - Nicholl, M.

AU - Prentice, S.

AU - Romero-Cañizales, C.

AU - Schulze, S.

AU - Smith, K. W.

AU - Sollerman, J.

AU - Sullivan, M.

AU - Tucker, B. E.

AU - Valenti, S.

AU - Wheeler, J. C.

AU - Young, D. R.

N1 - Funding Information: We acknowledge support from the European Union FP7 programme through the following European Research Council grants: 320360 (M.F., H.C.), 647208 (P.G.J.), 291222 (S.J.S.), 615929 (M.S.). We also acknowledge: Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship PF5-160145 (N.C.S.), Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship HST-HF2-51350 (S.v.V.), STFC grants ST/I001123/1 ST/L000709/1 (S.J.S.) and ST/L000679/1 (M.S.), Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT140101082 (J.C.A.M.-J.), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (J.R.M.), a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award to P. Schady (T.Kr., T.-W.C.), a Ramón y Cajal fellowship and the Spanish research project AYA 2014-58381 (A.de U.P.), CONICYT-Chile FONDECYT grants 3130488 (S.K.), 3140534 (S.S.), 3140563 (H.K.), 3150238 (C.R.-C.), a PRIN-INAF 2014 project (N.E.-R.), support from IDA (D.M.), an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (K.M.), CAASTRO project number CE110001020 (B.E.T.), National Science Foundation grant AST 11-09881 and NASA grant HST-AR-13726.02 (J.C.W.). This work used observations from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and was based upon work supported by National Science Foundation grant 1313484. The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Australian Government for operation as a National Facility managed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. This work was based partially on observations collected as part of the Public European Southern Observatory Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects Survey (PESSTO) under European Southern Observatory (ESO) programmes 188.D-3003 and 191.D-0935, and on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under programme ID 095.D-0633. We thank M. Della Valle for comments. Funding Information: We acknowledge support from the European Union FP7 programme through the following European Research Council grants: 320360 (M.F., H.C.), 647208 (P.G.J.), 291222 (S.J.S.), 615929 (M.S.). We also acknowledge: Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship PF5-160145 (N.C.S.), Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship HST-HF2-51350 (S.v.V.), STFC grants ST/I001123/1 ST/L000709/1 (S.J.S.) and ST/L000679/1 (M.S.), Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT140101082 (J.C.A.M.-J.), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (J.R.M.), a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award to P. Schady (T.Kr., T.-W.C.), a Ram?n y Cajal fellowship and the Spanish research project AYA 2014-58381 (A.de U.P.), CONICYT-Chile FONDECYT grants 3130488 (S.K.), 3140534 (S.S.), 3140563 (H.K.), 3150238 (C.R.-C.), a PRIN-INAF 2014 project (N.E.-R.), support from IDA (D.M.), an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (K.M.), CAASTRO project number CE110001020 (B.E.T.), National Science Foundation grant AST 11-09881 and NASA grant HST-AR-13726.02 (J.C.W.). This work used observations from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) and was based upon work supported by National Science Foundation grant 1313484. The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Australian Government for operation as a National Facility managed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. This work was based partially on observations collected as part of the Public European Southern Observatory Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects Survey (PESSTO) under European Southern Observatory (ESO) programmes 188.D-3003 and 191.D-0935, and on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under programme ID 095.D-0633. We thank M. Della Valle for comments. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - When a star passes within the tidal radius of a supermassive black hole, it will be torn apart1. For a star with the mass of the Sun (M) and a non-spinning black hole with a mass <108M, the tidal radius lies outside the black hole event horizon2 and the disruption results in a luminous flare3–6. Here we report observations over a period of ten months of a transient, hitherto interpreted7 as a superluminous supernova8. Our data show that the transient rebrightened substantially in the ultraviolet and that the spectrum went through three different spectroscopic phases without ever becoming nebular. Our observations are more consistent with a tidal disruption event than a superluminous supernova because of the temperature evolution6, the presence of highly ionized CNO gas in the line of sight9 and our improved localization of the transient in the nucleus of a passive galaxy, where the presence of massive stars is highly unlikely10,11. While the supermassive black hole has a mass >108M12,13, a star with the same mass as the Sun could be disrupted outside the event horizon if the black hole were spinning rapidly14. The rapid spin and high black hole mass can explain the high luminosity of this event.

AB - When a star passes within the tidal radius of a supermassive black hole, it will be torn apart1. For a star with the mass of the Sun (M) and a non-spinning black hole with a mass <108M, the tidal radius lies outside the black hole event horizon2 and the disruption results in a luminous flare3–6. Here we report observations over a period of ten months of a transient, hitherto interpreted7 as a superluminous supernova8. Our data show that the transient rebrightened substantially in the ultraviolet and that the spectrum went through three different spectroscopic phases without ever becoming nebular. Our observations are more consistent with a tidal disruption event than a superluminous supernova because of the temperature evolution6, the presence of highly ionized CNO gas in the line of sight9 and our improved localization of the transient in the nucleus of a passive galaxy, where the presence of massive stars is highly unlikely10,11. While the supermassive black hole has a mass >108M12,13, a star with the same mass as the Sun could be disrupted outside the event horizon if the black hole were spinning rapidly14. The rapid spin and high black hole mass can explain the high luminosity of this event.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046019290&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41550-016-0002

DO - 10.1038/s41550-016-0002

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85046019290

SN - 2397-3366

VL - 1

JO - Nature Astronomy

JF - Nature Astronomy

IS - 1

M1 - 0002

ER -

The superluminous transient aSaSSn-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole

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