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

Igor Andreoni; Michael W. Coughlin; Daniel A. Perley; Yuhan Yao; Wenbin Lu; S. Bradley Cenko; Harsh Kumar; Shreya Anand; Anna Y. Q. Ho; Mansi M. Kasliwal; Antonio de Ugarte Postigo; Ana Sagués-Carracedo; Steve Schulze; D. Alexander Kann; S. R. Kulkarni; Jesper Sollerman; Nial Tanvir; Armin Rest; Luca Izzo; Jean J. Somalwar; David L. Kaplan; Tomás Ahumada; G. C. Anupama; Katie Auchettl; Sudhanshu Barway; Eric C. Bellm; Varun Bhalerao; Joshua S. Bloom; Michael Bremer; Mattia Bulla; Eric Burns; Sergio Campana; Poonam Chandra; Panos Charalampopoulos; Jeff Cooke; Valerio D’Elia; Kaustav Kashyap Das; Dougal Dobie; José Feliciano Agüí Fernández; James Freeburn; Cristoffer Fremling; Suvi Gezari; Simon Goode; Matthew J. Graham; Erica Hammerstein; Viraj R. Karambelkar; Charles D. Kilpatrick; Erik C. Kool; Melanie Krips; Russ R. Laher; Giorgos Leloudas; Andrew Levan; Michael J. Lundquist; Ashish A. Mahabal; Michael S. Medford; M. Coleman Miller; Anais Möller; Kunal P. Mooley; A. J. Nayana; Guy Nir; Peter T. H. Pang; Emmy Paraskeva; Richard A. Perley; Glen Petitpas; Miika Pursiainen; Vikram Ravi; Ryan Ridden-Harper; Reed Riddle; Mickael Rigault; Antonio C. Rodriguez; Ben Rusholme; Yashvi Sharma; I. A. Smith; Robert D. Stein; Christina Thöne; Aaron Tohuvavohu; Frank Valdes; Jan van Roestel; Susanna D. Vergani; Qinan Wang; Jielai Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05465-8

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

Igor Andreoni^*, Michael W. Coughlin^*, Daniel A. Perley, Yuhan Yao, Wenbin Lu, S. Bradley Cenko, Harsh Kumar, Shreya Anand, Anna Y. Q. Ho, Mansi M. Kasliwal, Antonio de Ugarte Postigo, Ana Sagués-Carracedo, Steve Schulze, D. Alexander Kann, S. R. Kulkarni, Jesper Sollerman, Nial Tanvir, Armin Rest, Luca Izzo, Jean J. SomalwarDavid L. Kaplan, Tomás Ahumada, G. C. Anupama, Katie Auchettl, Sudhanshu Barway, Eric C. Bellm, Varun Bhalerao, Joshua S. Bloom, Michael Bremer, Mattia Bulla, Eric Burns, Sergio Campana, Poonam Chandra, Panos Charalampopoulos, Jeff Cooke, Valerio D’Elia, Kaustav Kashyap Das, Dougal Dobie, José Feliciano Agüí Fernández, James Freeburn, Cristoffer Fremling, Suvi Gezari, Simon Goode, Matthew J. Graham, Erica Hammerstein, Viraj R. Karambelkar, Charles D. Kilpatrick, Erik C. Kool, Melanie Krips, Russ R. Laher, Giorgos Leloudas, Andrew Levan, Michael J. Lundquist, Ashish A. Mahabal, Michael S. Medford, M. Coleman Miller, Anais Möller, Kunal P. Mooley, A. J. Nayana, Guy Nir, Peter T. H. Pang, Emmy Paraskeva, Richard A. Perley, Glen Petitpas, Miika Pursiainen, Vikram Ravi, Ryan Ridden-Harper, Reed Riddle, Mickael Rigault, Antonio C. Rodriguez, Ben Rusholme, Yashvi Sharma, I. A. Smith, Robert D. Stein, Christina Thöne, Aaron Tohuvavohu, Frank Valdes, Jan van Roestel, Susanna D. Vergani, Qinan Wang, Jielai Zhang

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Updated 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 jet^{2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}, 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+0.04−0.01 Gpc⁻³ yr⁻¹ 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.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature
Volume	612
Pages (from-to)	430–434
ISSN	1476-4687
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05465-8
Publication status	Published - 2022

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Please note publisher correction: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05699-0

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Publisher Correction: A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole
Andreoni, I., Coughlin, M. W., Perley, D. A., Yao, Y., Lu, W., Cenko, S. B., Kumar, H., Anand, S., Ho, A. Y. Q., Kasliwal, M. M., de Ugarte Postigo, A., Sagués-Carracedo, A., Schulze, S., Kann, D. A., Kulkarni, S. R., Sollerman, J., Tanvir, N., Rest, A., Izzo, L. & Somalwar, J. J. & 61 others, Kaplan, D. L., Ahumada, T., Anupama, G. C., Auchettl, K., Barway, S., Bellm, E. C., Bhalerao, V., Bloom, J. S., Bremer, M., Bulla, M., Burns, E., Campana, S., Chandra, P., Charalampopoulos, P., Cooke, J., D’Elia, V., Das, K. K., Dobie, D., Fernández, J. F. A., Freeburn, J., Fremling, C., Gezari, S., Goode, S., Graham, M. J., Hammerstein, E., Karambelkar, V. R., Kilpatrick, C. D., Kool, E. C., Krips, M., Laher, R. R., Leloudas, G., Levan, A., Lundquist, M. J., Mahabal, A. A., Medford, M. S., Miller, M. C., Möller, A., Mooley, K. P., Nayana, A. J., Nir, G., Pang, P. T. H., Paraskeva, E., Perley, R. A., Petitpas, G., Pursiainen, M., Ravi, V., Ridden-Harper, R., Riddle, R., Rigault, M., Rodriguez, A. C., Rusholme, B., Sharma, Y., Smith, I. A., Stein, R. D., Thöne, C., Tohuvavohu, A., Valdes, F., van Roestel, J., Vergani, S. D., Wang, Q. & Zhang, J., 2023, In: Nature. 613, E6.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › Communication

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Andreoni, I., Coughlin, M. W., Perley, D. A., Yao, Y., Lu, W., Cenko, S. B., Kumar, H., Anand, S., Ho, A. Y. Q., Kasliwal, M. M., de Ugarte Postigo, A., Sagués-Carracedo, A., Schulze, S., Kann, D. A., Kulkarni, S. R., Sollerman, J., Tanvir, N., Rest, A., Izzo, L., ... Zhang, J. (2022). A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole. Nature, 612, 430–434. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05465-8

@article{95a700c1243c4ae0b0b37efa4979f264,

title = "A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole",

abstract = "Updated 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 jet2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, 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 {\textquoteleft}afterglow{\textquoteright}, 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+0.04−0.01 Gpc−3 yr−1 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.",

author = "Igor Andreoni and Coughlin, {Michael W.} and Perley, {Daniel A.} and Yuhan Yao and Wenbin Lu and Cenko, {S. Bradley} and Harsh Kumar and Shreya Anand and Ho, {Anna Y. Q.} and Kasliwal, {Mansi M.} and {de Ugarte Postigo}, Antonio and Ana Sagu{\'e}s-Carracedo and Steve Schulze and Kann, {D. Alexander} and Kulkarni, {S. R.} and Jesper Sollerman and Nial Tanvir and Armin Rest and Luca Izzo and Somalwar, {Jean J.} and Kaplan, {David L.} and Tom{\'a}s Ahumada and Anupama, {G. C.} and Katie Auchettl and Sudhanshu Barway and Bellm, {Eric C.} and Varun Bhalerao and Bloom, {Joshua S.} and Michael Bremer and Mattia Bulla and Eric Burns and Sergio Campana and Poonam Chandra and Panos Charalampopoulos and Jeff Cooke and Valerio D{\textquoteright}Elia and Das, {Kaustav Kashyap} and Dougal Dobie and Fern{\'a}ndez, {Jos{\'e} Feliciano Ag{\"u}{\'i}} and James Freeburn and Cristoffer Fremling and Suvi Gezari and Simon Goode and Graham, {Matthew J.} and Erica Hammerstein and Karambelkar, {Viraj R.} and Kilpatrick, {Charles D.} and Kool, {Erik C.} and Melanie Krips and Laher, {Russ R.} and Giorgos Leloudas and Andrew Levan and Lundquist, {Michael J.} and Mahabal, {Ashish A.} and Medford, {Michael S.} and Miller, {M. Coleman} and Anais M{\"o}ller and Mooley, {Kunal P.} and Nayana, {A. J.} and Guy Nir and Pang, {Peter T. H.} and Emmy Paraskeva and Perley, {Richard A.} and Glen Petitpas and Miika Pursiainen and Vikram Ravi and Ryan Ridden-Harper and Reed Riddle and Mickael Rigault and Rodriguez, {Antonio C.} and Ben Rusholme and Yashvi Sharma and Smith, {I. A.} and Stein, {Robert D.} and Christina Th{\"o}ne and Aaron Tohuvavohu and Frank Valdes and {van Roestel}, Jan and Vergani, {Susanna D.} and Qinan Wang and Jielai Zhang",

note = "Please note publisher correction: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05699-0",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-022-05465-8",

language = "English",

volume = "612",

pages = "430–434",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "1476-4687",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

}

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, Kaplan, DL, Ahumada, T, Anupama, GC, Auchettl, K, Barway, S, Bellm, EC, Bhalerao, V, Bloom, JS, Bremer, M, Bulla, M, Burns, E, Campana, S, Chandra, P, Charalampopoulos, P, Cooke, J, D’Elia, V, Das, KK, Dobie, D, Fernández, JFA, Freeburn, J, Fremling, C, Gezari, S, Goode, S, Graham, MJ, Hammerstein, E, Karambelkar, VR, Kilpatrick, CD, Kool, EC, Krips, M, Laher, RR, Leloudas, G, Levan, A, Lundquist, MJ, Mahabal, AA, Medford, MS, Miller, MC, Möller, A, Mooley, KP, Nayana, AJ, Nir, G, Pang, PTH, Paraskeva, E, Perley, RA, Petitpas, G, Pursiainen, M, Ravi, V, Ridden-Harper, R, Riddle, R, Rigault, M, Rodriguez, AC, Rusholme, B, Sharma, Y, Smith, IA, Stein, RD, Thöne, C, Tohuvavohu, A, Valdes, F, van Roestel, J, Vergani, SD, Wang, Q & Zhang, J 2022, 'A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole', Nature, vol. 612, pp. 430–434. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05465-8

TY - JOUR

T1 - A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole

AU - Andreoni, Igor

AU - Coughlin, Michael W.

AU - Perley, Daniel A.

AU - Yao, Yuhan

AU - Lu, Wenbin

AU - Cenko, S. Bradley

AU - Kumar, Harsh

AU - Anand, Shreya

AU - Ho, Anna Y. Q.

AU - Kasliwal, Mansi M.

AU - de Ugarte Postigo, Antonio

AU - Sagués-Carracedo, Ana

AU - Schulze, Steve

AU - Kann, D. Alexander

AU - Kulkarni, S. R.

AU - Sollerman, Jesper

AU - Tanvir, Nial

AU - Rest, Armin

AU - Izzo, Luca

AU - Somalwar, Jean J.

AU - Kaplan, David L.

AU - Ahumada, Tomás

AU - Anupama, G. C.

AU - Auchettl, Katie

AU - Barway, Sudhanshu

AU - Bellm, Eric C.

AU - Bhalerao, Varun

AU - Bloom, Joshua S.

AU - Bremer, Michael

AU - Bulla, Mattia

AU - Burns, Eric

AU - Campana, Sergio

AU - Chandra, Poonam

AU - Charalampopoulos, Panos

AU - Cooke, Jeff

AU - D’Elia, Valerio

AU - Das, Kaustav Kashyap

AU - Dobie, Dougal

AU - Fernández, José Feliciano Agüí

AU - Freeburn, James

AU - Fremling, Cristoffer

AU - Gezari, Suvi

AU - Goode, Simon

AU - Graham, Matthew J.

AU - Hammerstein, Erica

AU - Karambelkar, Viraj R.

AU - Kilpatrick, Charles D.

AU - Kool, Erik C.

AU - Krips, Melanie

AU - Laher, Russ R.

AU - Leloudas, Giorgos

AU - Levan, Andrew

AU - Lundquist, Michael J.

AU - Mahabal, Ashish A.

AU - Medford, Michael S.

AU - Miller, M. Coleman

AU - Möller, Anais

AU - Mooley, Kunal P.

AU - Nayana, A. J.

AU - Nir, Guy

AU - Pang, Peter T. H.

AU - Paraskeva, Emmy

AU - Perley, Richard A.

AU - Petitpas, Glen

AU - Pursiainen, Miika

AU - Ravi, Vikram

AU - Ridden-Harper, Ryan

AU - Riddle, Reed

AU - Rigault, Mickael

AU - Rodriguez, Antonio C.

AU - Rusholme, Ben

AU - Sharma, Yashvi

AU - Smith, I. A.

AU - Stein, Robert D.

AU - Thöne, Christina

AU - Tohuvavohu, Aaron

AU - Valdes, Frank

AU - van Roestel, Jan

AU - Vergani, Susanna D.

AU - Wang, Qinan

AU - Zhang, Jielai

N1 - Please note publisher correction: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05699-0

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Updated 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 jet2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, 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+0.04−0.01 Gpc−3 yr−1 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.

AB - Updated 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 jet2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, 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+0.04−0.01 Gpc−3 yr−1 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.

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-022-05465-8

DO - 10.1038/s41586-022-05465-8

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36450988

SN - 1476-4687

VL - 612

SP - 430

EP - 434

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

ER -

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

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

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