Research articles

search articles

My Pages

Stat

Members: 3645
Articles: 2'500'096
Articles rated: 2609

19 April 2024

» arxiv » 1103.5514

Article overview

The Discovery and Nature of Optical Transient CSS100217:102913+404220
A.J. Drake ; S.G. Djorgovski ; A. Mahabal ; J. Anderson ; R. Roy ; V. Mohan ; S. Ravindranath ; D. Frail ; S. Gezari ; James D. Neill ; L.C. Ho ; J.L. Prieto ; D. Thompson ; J. Thorstensen ; M. Wagner ; R. Kowalski ; J. Chiang ; J.E. Grove ; F.K. Schinzel ; D.L. Wood ; L. Carrasco ; E. Recillas ; L. Kewley ; K.N. Archana ; Aritra Basu ; Yogesh Wadadekar ; Brijesh Kumar ; A.D. Myers ; E.S. Phinney ; R. Williams ; M.J. Graham ; M. Catelan ; E. Beshore ; S. Larson ; E. Christensen ;
Date:	Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:07:46 GMT (1815kb)
Abstract:	We report on the discovery and observations of the extremely luminous optical transient CSS100217:102913+404220 (CSS100217 hereafter). Spectroscopic observations show this transient was coincident with a galaxy at redshift z=0.147, and reached an apparent magnitude of V ~ 16.3. After correcting for foreground Galactic extinction we determine the absolute magnitude to be M_V =-22.7 approximately 45 days after maximum light. Based on our unfiltered optical photometry the peak optical emission was L = 1.3 x 10^45 erg s^-1, and over a period of 287 rest-frame days had an integrated bolometric luminosity of 1.2 x 10^52 erg. Analysis of the pre-outburst SDSS spectrum of the source shows features consistent with a Narrow-line Seyfert1 (NLS1) galaxy. High-resolution HST and Keck followup observations show the event occurred within 150pc of nucleus of the galaxy, suggesting a possible link to the active nuclear region. However, the rapid outburst along with photometric and spectroscopic evolution are much more consistent with a luminous supernova. Line diagnostics suggest that the host galaxy is undergoing significant star formation. We use extensive follow-up of the event along with archival CSS and SDSS data to investigate the three most likely sources of such an event; 1) an extremely luminous supernova; 2) the tidal disruption of a star by the massive nuclear black hole; 3) variability of the central AGN. We find that CSS100217 was likely an extremely luminous type IIn supernova that occurred within range of the narrow-line region of an AGN. We discuss how similar events may have been missed in past supernova surveys because of confusion with AGN activity.
Source:	arXiv, 1103.5514
Services:	Forum \| Review \| PDF \| Favorites

No review found.

Did you like this article?

This article or document is ...
important:
of broad interest:
readable:
new:
correct:
Global appreciation:

Note: answers to reviews or questions about the article must be posted in the forum section.
Authors are not allowed to review their own article. They can use the forum section.

browser claudebot

ScienXe.org
» my Online CV
» Free

News, job offers and information for researchers and scientists:

home

contact

sitemap