Fast blue optical transient explained

In astronomy, a fast blue optical transient (FBOT), or more specifically, luminous fast blue optical transient (LFBOT), is an explosive transient event similar to supernovae and gamma-ray bursts with high optical luminosity, rapid evolution, and predominantly blue emission.[1] The origins of such explosions are currently unclear, with events occurring at not more than 0.1% of the typical core-collapse supernova rate.[2] This class of transients initially emerged from large sky surveys at cosmological distances,[3] [4] yet in recent years a small number have been discovered in the local Universe, most notably AT 2018cow.

The precise definition of what constitutes a 'fast blue optical transient' is currently contentious in the literature, largely defined by the observational properties rather than the underlying mechanisms/objects. Even within the class, growing samples of candidates[5] are beginning to reveal significant variation in properties when the objects are studied in greater detail, potentially indicative of different progenitor channels or explosion mechanisms.

List

!Transient!Reported!Date!Observatory!Notes
AT 2018cow[6] [7] [8] 201816 June 2018ATLAS-HKO"The Cow", the most local FBOT known, and the event with the richest dataset, making It a prototype of the class.Peak luminosity

Lpk\sim1044erg s-1

, exceeding that of superluminous supernovae
ZTF18abvkwla(AT 2018lug)[9] 202012 September 2018Zwicky Transient Facility"The Koala"Blackbody temperature of over 40,000 Kelvin at peak
CSS161010[10] [11] 202010 October 2016CRTSShows mildly relativistic (55% the speed of light) mass outflows
AT 2020xnd (ZTF20acigmel)[12] [13] 202112 October 2020Zwicky Transient Facility"The Camel"
AT 2020mrf[14] [15] 202212 June 2020Spektr-RG, Zwicky Transient Facility200 times more luminous on the X-ray spectrum at its peak than AT 2018cow and CSS161010
AT 2022tsd[16] [17] 20237 September 2022Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, Zwicky Transient Facility"The Tasmanian Devil", minutes-duration optical flares suggestive of a NS/BH from a failed supernova event.[18] [19]
AT 2023fhn[20] [21] [22] 202310 April 2023Zwicky Transient Facility"The Finch" or "The Fawn"
AT 2023vth (ZTF23ableqsp)[23] 202318 October 2023Zwicky Transient FacilityFirst FBOT to be labelled as such on the Transient Name Server.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: O"Callaghan . Jonathan . A Cow, a Camel and a Finch Exploded in Space. What Is Going On? - Astronomers have yet to determine the cause of luminous fast blue optical transients, and the latest they have detected is raising even more questions. . 19 July 2023 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230720000625/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/19/science/explosions-black-holes-lfbots.html . 20 July 2023 . 19 July 2023 .
  2. Ho. Anna Y. Q.. Perley. Daniel A.. Kulkarni. S. R.. Dong. Dillon Z. J.. De. Kishalay. Chandra. Poonam. Andreoni. Igor. Bellm. Eric C.. Burdge. Kevin B.. Coughlin. Michael. Dekany. Richard. 2020-05-26. The Koala: A Fast Blue Optical Transient with Luminous Radio Emission from a Starburst Dwarf Galaxy atz= 0.27. The Astrophysical Journal. en. 895. 1. 49. 10.3847/1538-4357/ab8bcf. 2003.01222. 2020ApJ...895...49H. 211817823. 1538-4357 . free .
  3. Drout . M. R. . Chornock . R. . Soderberg . A. M. . Sanders . N. E. . McKinnon . R. . Rest . A. . Foley . R. J. . Milisavljevic . D. . Margutti . R. . Berger . E. . Calkins . M. . Fong . W. . Gezari . S. . Huber . M. E. . Kankare . E. . 2014-09-19 . Rapidly-Evolving and Luminous Transients from Pan-STARRS1 . The Astrophysical Journal . 794 . 1 . 23 . 10.1088/0004-637X/794/1/23 . 1405.3668 . 2014ApJ...794...23D . 1538-4357.
  4. Pursiainen . M. . Childress . M. . Smith . M. . Prajs . S. . Sullivan . M. . Davis . T. M. . Foley . R. J. . Asorey . J. . Calcino . J. . Carollo . D. . Curtin . C. . D'Andrea . C. B. . Glazebrook . K. . Gutierrez . C. . Hinton . S. R. . 2018-11-21 . Rapidly evolving transients in the Dark Energy Survey . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 481 . 1 . 894–917 . 10.1093/mnras/sty2309 . free . 1803.04869 . 0035-8711.
  5. Ho . Anna Y. Q. . Perley . Daniel A. . Gal-Yam . Avishay . Lunnan . Ragnhild . Sollerman . Jesper . Schulze . Steve . Das . Kaustav K. . Dobie . Dougal . Yao . Yuhan . Fremling . Christoffer . Adams . Scott . Anand . Shreya . Andreoni . Igor . Bellm . Eric C. . Bruch . Rachel J. . 2023-06-01 . A Search for Extragalactic Fast Blue Optical Transients in ZTF and the Rate of AT2018cow-like Transients . The Astrophysical Journal . 949 . 2 . 120 . 10.3847/1538-4357/acc533 . 2105.08811 . 0004-637X . free . 2023ApJ...949..120H .
  6. Smartt. S. J.. Clark. P.. Smith. K. W.. McBrien. O.. Maguire. K.. O'Neil. D.. Fulton. M.. Magee. M.. Prentice. S.. Colin. C.. Tonry. J.. 1. 17 June 2018. ATLAS18qqn (AT2018cow) - a bright transient spatially coincident with CGCG 137-068 (60 Mpc). The Astronomer's Telegram. 11727. 11727. 1. 2018ATel11727....1S. 22 June 2018. A.. Rest. L.. Denneau. H.. Weiland. H.. Heinze. A.. Stalder. B.. Flewelling.
  7. Prentice. S. J.. Maguire. K.. Smartt. S. J.. Magee. M. R.. Schady. P.. Patricia Schady . Sim. S.. Chen. T.-W.. Clark. P.. Colin. C.. Fulton. M.. McBrien. O.. 2018-09-17. The Cow: Discovery of a Luminous, Hot, and Rapidly Evolving Transient. The Astrophysical Journal. 865. 1. L3. 10.3847/2041-8213/aadd90. 1807.05965. 2018ApJ...865L...3P. 54703801. 2041-8213 . free .
  8. Castelvecchi. Davide. 2018-11-02. Holy Cow! Astronomers agog at mysterious new supernova. Nature. en. 563. 7730. 168–169. 10.1038/d41586-018-07260-w. 30401847. 2018Natur.563..168C. 53233136.
  9. Web site: A Fast, Blue "Koala" Shines Bright in a Distant Galaxy. 15 May 2020 . 2022-01-16. en-US.
  10. Coppejans. D. L.. Margutti. R.. Terreran. G.. Nayana. A. J.. Coughlin. E. R.. Laskar. T.. Alexander. K. D.. Bietenholz. M.. Caprioli. D.. Chandra. P.. Drout. M. R.. 2020-05-26. A Mildly Relativistic Outflow from the Energetic, Fast-rising Blue Optical Transient CSS161010 in a Dwarf Galaxy. The Astrophysical Journal. en. 895. 1. L23. 10.3847/2041-8213/ab8cc7. 2003.10503. 2020ApJ...895L..23C. 214623364. 2041-8213 . free .
  11. Web site: Astrophysicists capture new class of transient objects. 2022-01-15. news.northwestern.edu. en-US.
  12. Perley. Daniel A. Ho. Anna Y Q. Yao. Yuhan. Fremling. Christoffer. Anderson. Joseph P. Schulze. Steve. Kumar. Harsh. Anupama. G C. Barway. Sudhanshu. Bellm. Eric C. Bhalerao. Varun. 2021-10-27. Real-time discovery of AT2020xnd: a fast, luminous ultraviolet transient with minimal radioactive ejecta. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. en. 508. 4. 5138–5147. 2103.01968. 10.1093/mnras/stab2785. free . 0035-8711.
  13. Web site: O'Callaghan. Jonathan. 2021-03-10. New Kind of Space Explosion Reveals the Birth of a Black Hole. 2022-01-16. Quanta Magazine. en.
  14. Yao . Yuhan . Ho . Anna Y. Q. . Medvedev . Pavel . A. J. . Nayana . Perley . Daniel A. . Kulkarni . S. R. . Chandra . Poonam . Sazonov . Sergey . Gilfanov . Marat . Khorunzhev . Georgii . Khatami . David K. . Sunyaev . Rashid . 2022-08-01 . The X-Ray and Radio Loud Fast Blue Optical Transient AT2020mrf: Implications for an Emerging Class of Engine-driven Massive Star Explosions . The Astrophysical Journal . 934 . 2 . 104 . 10.3847/1538-4357/ac7a41 . 2112.00751 . 2022ApJ...934..104Y . 244798769 . 0004-637X . free .
  15. Web site: 2022-01-10. Astronomers Find Most Luminous "Cow" to Shine in X-Rays. 2022-01-15. California Institute of Technology. en.
  16. Matthews . D. . Margutti . R. . Metzger . B. D. . Milisavljevic . D. . Migliori . G. . Laskar . T. . Brethauer . D. . Berger . E. . Chornock . R. . Drout . M. . Ramirez-Ruiz . E. . 2023-06-19 . Unprecedented X-Ray Emission from the Fast Blue Optical Transient AT2022tsd . Research Notes of the AAS . 7 . 6 . 126 . 10.3847/2515-5172/acdde1 . 2306.01114 . 2023RNAAS...7..126M . 2515-5172 . free .
  17. News: O’Callaghan . Jonathan . 2023-07-19 . A Cow, a Camel and a Finch Exploded in Space. What Is Going On? . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-08-30 . 0362-4331.
  18. Ho . Anna Y. Q. . Perley . Daniel A. . Chen . Ping . Schulze . Steve . Dhillon . Vik . Kumar . Harsh . Suresh . Aswin . Swain . Vishwajeet . Bremer . Michael . Smartt . Stephen J. . Anderson . Joseph P. . Anupama . G. C. . Awiphan . Supachai . Barway . Sudhanshu . Bellm . Eric C. . 2023-11-15 . Minutes-duration optical flares with supernova luminosities . Nature . 623 . 7989 . 927–931 . en . 10.1038/s41586-023-06673-6 . 37968403 . 0028-0836. 2311.10195 . 2023Natur.623..927H .
  19. O'Callaghan . Jonathan . 2023-11-15 . Mysterious 'Tasmanian devil' space explosion baffles astronomers . Nature . 623 . 7989 . 900 . en . 10.1038/d41586-023-03569-3 . 37968468 . 2023Natur.623..900O . 0028-0836.
  20. Chrimes . A. A. . Jonker . P. G. . Levan . A. J. . Coppejans . D. L. . Gaspari . N. . Gompertz . B. P. . Groot . P. J. . Malesani . D. B. . Mummery . A. . Stanway . E. R. . Wiersema . K. . 2024 . AT 2023fhn (the Finch): a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient at a large offset from its host galaxy . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 527 . 1 . L47–L53 . 10.1093/mnrasl/slad145 . free . 2307.01771. 2024MNRAS.527L..47C .
  21. Web site: Panjkov . Sonja . 21 Jul 2023 . Luminous, Fast and Blue: Do the Finch and the Cow Share a Common Ancestor? . Astrobites.
  22. News: Cooper . Keith . Hubble Telescope just witnessed a massive intergalactic explosion and astronomers can't explain it - The leading theories involve stars being ripped apart by black holes or the merger of neutron stars. . 6 October 2023 . . https://archive.today/20231006225840/https://www.space.com/intergalactic-space-explosion-lfbot . 6 October 2023 . 7 October 2023 .
  23. https://www.wis-tns.org/object/2023vth Transient Name Server entry for AT 2023vth.

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