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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
AT 2022aedm and a New Class of Luminous, Fast-cooling Transients in Elliptical Galaxies
Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 954, No. 1, Article L28, Year 2023
Notification
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Description
We present the discovery and extensive follow-up of a remarkable fast-evolving optical transient, AT 2022aedm, detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial impact Last Alert Survey (ATLAS). In the ATLAS o band, AT 2022aedm exhibited a rise time of 9 ± 1 days, reaching a luminous peak with M g ≈ −22 mag. It faded by 2 mag in the g band during the next 15 days. These timescales are consistent with other rapidly evolving transients, though the luminosity is extreme. Most surprisingly, the host galaxy is a massive elliptical with negligible current star formation. Radio and X-ray observations rule out a relativistic AT 2018cow-like explosion. A spectrum in the first few days after explosion showed short-lived He ii emission resembling young core-collapse supernovae, but obvious broad supernova features never developed; later spectra showed only a fast-cooling continuum and narrow, blueshifted absorption lines, possibly arising in a wind with v ≈ 2700 km s−1. We identify two further transients in the literature (Dougie in particular, as well as AT 2020bot) that share similarities in their luminosities, timescales, color evolution, and largely featureless spectra and propose that these may constitute a new class of transients: luminous fast coolers. All three events occurred in passive galaxies at offsets of ∼4-10 kpc from the nucleus, posing a challenge for progenitor models involving massive stars or black holes. The light curves and spectra appear to be consistent with shock breakout emission, though this mechanism is usually associated with core-collapse supernovae. The encounter of a star with a stellar-mass black hole may provide a promising alternative explanation. © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Authors & Co-Authors
Nicholl, Matt
United Kingdom, Belfast
Queen's University Belfast
Gomez, Sebastian
United States, Baltimore
Space Telescope Science Institute
Huber, Mark E.C.
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Oates, Samantha R.
United Kingdom, Birmingham
University of Birmingham
Rhodes, Lauren
United Kingdom, Oxford
University of Oxford
Smartt, Stephen J.
United Kingdom, Belfast
Queen's University Belfast
United Kingdom, Oxford
University of Oxford
Smith, Kenneth W.
United Kingdom, Belfast
Queen's University Belfast
Anderson, Joseph P.
Chile, Santiago
European Southern Observatory Santiago
Chile, Santiago
Instituto Milenio de Astrofísica
Bauer, Franz E.
Chile, Santiago
Instituto Milenio de Astrofísica
Chile, Santiago
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Berger, Edo
United States, Cambridge
Harvard-smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
de Boer, Thomas J.L.
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Chambers, Kenneth C.
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Chen, Tingwan
Germany, Munich
Technische Universität München
Fender, Robert P.
United Kingdom, Oxford
University of Oxford
Fraser, Morgan
Ireland, Dublin
University College Dublin
David A. Green, David A.
United Kingdom, Cambridge
Department of Physics
Galbany, Lluís
Spain, Madrid
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Spain, Barcelona
Instituto de Estudios Espaciales de Cataluña
Gompertz, B. P.
United Kingdom, Birmingham
University of Birmingham
Gromadzki, Mariusz
Poland, Warsaw
University of Warsaw
Gutiérrez, Claudia P.
Spain, Madrid
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Spain, Barcelona
Instituto de Estudios Espaciales de Cataluña
Howell, D. Andrew
United States, Santa Barbara
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc
United States, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
Inserra, Cosimo
United Kingdom, Cardiff
Cardiff University
Jonker, Peter G.
Netherlands, Nijmegen
Radboud Universiteit
Netherlands, Utrecht
Sron Netherlands Institute for Space Research
Lowe, Thomas B.
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Magnier, Eugene A.
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
McCully, Curtis V.
United States, Santa Barbara
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc
McGee, Sean L.
United Kingdom, Birmingham
University of Birmingham
Muller-Bravo, Tomas E.
Spain, Madrid
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Spain, Barcelona
Instituto de Estudios Espaciales de Cataluña
Newsome, Megan
United States, Santa Barbara
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc
United States, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
Gonzalez, Estefania Padilla
United States, Santa Barbara
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc
United States, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
Pellegrino, Craig M.
United States, Santa Barbara
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc
United States, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
Pessi, Thallis L.
Chile, Santiago
Universidad Diego Portales
Pursiainen, Miika A.
Denmark, Lyngby
Technical University of Denmark
Rest, Armin W.
United States, Baltimore
Space Telescope Science Institute
United States, Baltimore
Johns Hopkins University
Ridley, Evan J.
United Kingdom, Birmingham
University of Birmingham
Shappee, Benjamin J.
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Smith, Graham P.
United Kingdom, Birmingham
University of Birmingham
Terreran, Giacomo
United States, Santa Barbara
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc
United States, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
Tucker, Michael A.
Unknown Affiliation
Vinkó, József
Unknown Affiliation
Wainscoat, Richard J.
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Wiseman, P.
Unknown Affiliation
Young, David R.
United Kingdom, Belfast
Queen's University Belfast
Statistics
Citations: 4
Authors: 43
Affiliations: 24
Identifiers
Doi:
10.3847/2041-8213/acf0ba
ISSN:
20418205
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Cohort Study
Study Approach
Quantitative