Minutes-duration optical flares with supernova luminosities

Anna Y. Q. Ho (), Daniel A. Perley, Ping Chen, Steve Schulze, Vik Dhillon, Harsh Kumar, Aswin Suresh, Vishwajeet Swain, Michael Bremer, Stephen J. Smartt, Joseph P. Anderson, G. C. Anupama, Supachai Awiphan, Sudhanshu Barway, Eric C. Bellm, Sagi Ben-Ami, Varun Bhalerao, Thomas Boer, Thomas G. Brink, Rick Burruss, Poonam Chandra, Ting-Wan Chen, Wen-Ping Chen, Jeff Cooke, Michael W. Coughlin, Kaustav K. Das, Andrew J. Drake, Alexei V. Filippenko, James Freeburn, Christoffer Fremling, Michael D. Fulton, Avishay Gal-Yam, Lluís Galbany, Hua Gao, Matthew J. Graham, Mariusz Gromadzki, Claudia P. Gutiérrez, K-Ryan Hinds, Cosimo Inserra, Nayana A J, Viraj Karambelkar, Mansi M. Kasliwal, Shri Kulkarni, Tomás E. Müller-Bravo, Eugene A. Magnier, Ashish A. Mahabal, Thomas Moore, Chow-Choong Ngeow, Matt Nicholl, Eran O. Ofek, Conor M. B. Omand, Francesca Onori, Yen-Chen Pan, Priscila J. Pessi, Glen Petitpas, David Polishook, Saran Poshyachinda, Miika Pursiainen, Reed Riddle, Antonio C. Rodriguez, Ben Rusholme, Enrico Segre, Yashvi Sharma, Ken W. Smith, Jesper Sollerman, Shubham Srivastav, Nora Linn Strotjohann, Mark Suhr, Dmitry Svinkin, Yanan Wang, Philip Wiseman, Avery Wold, Sheng Yang, Yi Yang, Yuhan Yao, David R. Young and WeiKang Zheng
Additional contact information
Anna Y. Q. Ho: Cornell University
Daniel A. Perley: Liverpool John Moores University
Ping Chen: Weizmann Institute of Science
Steve Schulze: Stockholm University, Albanova University Center
Vik Dhillon: University of Sheffield
Harsh Kumar: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Aswin Suresh: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Vishwajeet Swain: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Michael Bremer: Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
Stephen J. Smartt: University of Oxford
Joseph P. Anderson: European Southern Observatory
G. C. Anupama: Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Supachai Awiphan: National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand
Sudhanshu Barway: Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Eric C. Bellm: University of Washington
Sagi Ben-Ami: Weizmann Institute of Science
Varun Bhalerao: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Thomas Boer: University of Hawai‘i
Thomas G. Brink: University of California, Berkeley
Rick Burruss: California Institute of Technology
Poonam Chandra: National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Ting-Wan Chen: Technische Universität München
Wen-Ping Chen: National Central University
Jeff Cooke: Swinburne University of Technology
Michael W. Coughlin: University of Minnesota
Kaustav K. Das: California Institute of Technology
Andrew J. Drake: California Institute of Technology
Alexei V. Filippenko: University of California, Berkeley
James Freeburn: Swinburne University of Technology
Christoffer Fremling: California Institute of Technology
Michael D. Fulton: Queen’s University Belfast
Avishay Gal-Yam: Weizmann Institute of Science
Lluís Galbany: Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)
Hua Gao: University of Hawai‘i
Matthew J. Graham: California Institute of Technology
Mariusz Gromadzki: University of Warsaw
Claudia P. Gutiérrez: Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)
K-Ryan Hinds: Liverpool John Moores University
Cosimo Inserra: Cardiff University
Nayana A J: Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Viraj Karambelkar: California Institute of Technology
Mansi M. Kasliwal: California Institute of Technology
Shri Kulkarni: California Institute of Technology
Tomás E. Müller-Bravo: Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)
Eugene A. Magnier: University of Hawai‘i
Ashish A. Mahabal: California Institute of Technology
Thomas Moore: Queen’s University Belfast
Chow-Choong Ngeow: National Central University
Matt Nicholl: Queen’s University Belfast
Eran O. Ofek: Weizmann Institute of Science
Conor M. B. Omand: Stockholm University, Albanova University Center
Francesca Onori: INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico d’Abruzzo
Yen-Chen Pan: National Central University
Priscila J. Pessi: Stockholm University, Albanova University Center
Glen Petitpas: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
David Polishook: Weizmann Institute of Science
Saran Poshyachinda: National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand
Miika Pursiainen: Technical University of Denmark
Reed Riddle: California Institute of Technology
Antonio C. Rodriguez: California Institute of Technology
Ben Rusholme: California Institute of Technology
Enrico Segre: Weizmann Institute of Science
Yashvi Sharma: California Institute of Technology
Ken W. Smith: Queen’s University Belfast
Jesper Sollerman: Stockholm University, Albanova University Center
Shubham Srivastav: Queen’s University Belfast
Nora Linn Strotjohann: Weizmann Institute of Science
Mark Suhr: Swinburne University of Technology
Dmitry Svinkin: Ioffe Institute
Yanan Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Philip Wiseman: University of Southampton
Avery Wold: California Institute of Technology
Sheng Yang: Henan Academy of Sciences
Yi Yang: University of California, Berkeley
Yuhan Yao: California Institute of Technology
David R. Young: Queen’s University Belfast
WeiKang Zheng: University of California, Berkeley

Nature, 2023, vol. 623, issue 7989, 927-931

Abstract: Abstract In recent years, certain luminous extragalactic optical transients have been observed to last only a few days1. Their short observed duration implies a different powering mechanism from the most common luminous extragalactic transients (supernovae), whose timescale is weeks2. Some short-duration transients, most notably AT2018cow (ref. 3), show blue optical colours and bright radio and X-ray emission4. Several AT2018cow-like transients have shown hints of a long-lived embedded energy source5, such as X-ray variability6,7, prolonged ultraviolet emission8, a tentative X-ray quasiperiodic oscillation9,10 and large energies coupled to fast (but subrelativistic) radio-emitting ejecta11,12. Here we report observations of minutes-duration optical flares in the aftermath of an AT2018cow-like transient, AT2022tsd (the ‘Tasmanian Devil’). The flares occur over a period of months, are highly energetic and are probably nonthermal, implying that they arise from a near-relativistic outflow or jet. Our observations confirm that, in some AT2018cow-like transients, the embedded energy source is a compact object, either a magnetar or an accreting black hole.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06673-6

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