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

When a star passes within the tidal radius of a supermassive black hole, it will be torn apart. For a star with the mass of the Sun (M ⊙) and a non-spinning black hole with a mass <10 8 M ⊙, the tidal radius lies outside the black hole event horizon2 and the disruption results in a luminous flare...

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Main Authors:	Leloudas, G., Fraser, M., Stone, N., van Velzen, S., Jonker, P., Arcavi, I., Fremling, C., Maund, J., Smartt, S., Krihler, T., Miller-Jones, James, Vreeswijk, P., Gal-Yam, A., Mazzali, P., De Cia, A., Howell, D., Inserra, C., Patat, F., Postigo, A., Yaron, O., Ashall, C., Bar, I., Campbell, H., Chen, T., Childress, M., Elias-Rosa, N., Harmanen, J., Hosseinzadeh, G., Johansson, J., Kangas, T., Kankare, E., Kim, S., Kuncarayakti, H., Lyman, J., Magee, M., Maguire, K., Malesani, D., Mattila, S., McCully, C., Nicholl, M., Prentice, S., Romero-Canizales, C., Schulze, S., Smith, K., Sollerman, J., Sullivan, M., Tucker, B., Valenti, S., Wheeler, J., Young, D.
Format:	Journal Article
Published:	NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP 2017
Online Access:	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/57814

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author	Leloudas, G. Fraser, M. Stone, N. van Velzen, S. Jonker, P. Arcavi, I. Fremling, C. Maund, J. Smartt, S. Krihler, T. Miller-Jones, James Vreeswijk, P. Gal-Yam, A. Mazzali, P. De Cia, A. Howell, D. Inserra, C. Patat, F. Postigo, A. Yaron, O. Ashall, C. Bar, I. Campbell, H. Chen, T. Childress, M. Elias-Rosa, N. Harmanen, J. Hosseinzadeh, G. Johansson, J. Kangas, T. Kankare, E. Kim, S. Kuncarayakti, H. Lyman, J. Magee, M. Maguire, K. Malesani, D. Mattila, S. McCully, C. Nicholl, M. Prentice, S. Romero-Canizales, C. Schulze, S. Smith, K. Sollerman, J. Sullivan, M. Tucker, B. Valenti, S. Wheeler, J. Young, D.
author_facet	Leloudas, G. Fraser, M. Stone, N. van Velzen, S. Jonker, P. Arcavi, I. Fremling, C. Maund, J. Smartt, S. Krihler, T. Miller-Jones, James Vreeswijk, P. Gal-Yam, A. Mazzali, P. De Cia, A. Howell, D. Inserra, C. Patat, F. Postigo, A. Yaron, O. Ashall, C. Bar, I. Campbell, H. Chen, T. Childress, M. Elias-Rosa, N. Harmanen, J. Hosseinzadeh, G. Johansson, J. Kangas, T. Kankare, E. Kim, S. Kuncarayakti, H. Lyman, J. Magee, M. Maguire, K. Malesani, D. Mattila, S. McCully, C. Nicholl, M. Prentice, S. Romero-Canizales, C. Schulze, S. Smith, K. Sollerman, J. Sullivan, M. Tucker, B. Valenti, S. Wheeler, J. Young, D.
author_sort	Leloudas, G.
building	Curtin Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
description	When a star passes within the tidal radius of a supermassive black hole, it will be torn apart. For a star with the mass of the Sun (M ⊙) and a non-spinning black hole with a mass <10 8 M ⊙, the tidal radius lies outside the black hole event horizon2 and the disruption results in a luminous flare. Here we report observations over a period of ten months of a transient, hitherto interpreted as a superluminous supernova. 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 evolution, the presence of highly ionized CNO gas in the line of sight and our improved localization of the transient in the nucleus of a passive galaxy, where the presence of massive stars is highly unlikely. While the supermassive black hole has a mass >108 M ⊙, a star with the same mass as the Sun could be disrupted outside the event horizon if the black hole were spinning rapidly. The rapid spin and high black hole mass can explain the high luminosity of this event.
first_indexed	2025-11-14T10:10:29Z
format	Journal Article
id	curtin-20.500.11937-57814
institution	Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category	Local University
last_indexed	2025-11-14T10:10:29Z
publishDate	2017
publisher	NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
recordtype	eprints
repository_type	Digital Repository
spelling	curtin-20.500.11937-578142022-11-28T04:07:00Z The superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole Leloudas, G. Fraser, M. Stone, N. van Velzen, S. Jonker, P. Arcavi, I. Fremling, C. Maund, J. Smartt, S. Krihler, T. Miller-Jones, James Vreeswijk, P. Gal-Yam, A. Mazzali, P. De Cia, A. Howell, D. Inserra, C. Patat, F. Postigo, A. Yaron, O. Ashall, C. Bar, I. Campbell, H. Chen, T. Childress, M. Elias-Rosa, N. Harmanen, J. Hosseinzadeh, G. Johansson, J. Kangas, T. Kankare, E. Kim, S. Kuncarayakti, H. Lyman, J. Magee, M. Maguire, K. Malesani, D. Mattila, S. McCully, C. Nicholl, M. Prentice, S. Romero-Canizales, C. Schulze, S. Smith, K. Sollerman, J. Sullivan, M. Tucker, B. Valenti, S. Wheeler, J. Young, D. When a star passes within the tidal radius of a supermassive black hole, it will be torn apart. For a star with the mass of the Sun (M ⊙) and a non-spinning black hole with a mass <10 8 M ⊙, the tidal radius lies outside the black hole event horizon2 and the disruption results in a luminous flare. Here we report observations over a period of ten months of a transient, hitherto interpreted as a superluminous supernova. 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 evolution, the presence of highly ionized CNO gas in the line of sight and our improved localization of the transient in the nucleus of a passive galaxy, where the presence of massive stars is highly unlikely. While the supermassive black hole has a mass >108 M ⊙, a star with the same mass as the Sun could be disrupted outside the event horizon if the black hole were spinning rapidly. The rapid spin and high black hole mass can explain the high luminosity of this event. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/57814 10.1038/s41550-016-0002 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP fulltext
spellingShingle	Leloudas, G. Fraser, M. Stone, N. van Velzen, S. Jonker, P. Arcavi, I. Fremling, C. Maund, J. Smartt, S. Krihler, T. Miller-Jones, James Vreeswijk, P. Gal-Yam, A. Mazzali, P. De Cia, A. Howell, D. Inserra, C. Patat, F. Postigo, A. Yaron, O. Ashall, C. Bar, I. Campbell, H. Chen, T. Childress, M. Elias-Rosa, N. Harmanen, J. Hosseinzadeh, G. Johansson, J. Kangas, T. Kankare, E. Kim, S. Kuncarayakti, H. Lyman, J. Magee, M. Maguire, K. Malesani, D. Mattila, S. McCully, C. Nicholl, M. Prentice, S. Romero-Canizales, C. Schulze, S. Smith, K. Sollerman, J. Sullivan, M. Tucker, B. Valenti, S. Wheeler, J. Young, D. The superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole
title	The superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole
title_full	The superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole
title_fullStr	The superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole
title_full_unstemmed	The superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole
title_short	The superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a Kerr black hole
title_sort	superluminous transient asassn-15lh as a tidal disruption event from a kerr black hole
url	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/57814

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

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