The birth of a relativistic jet following the disruption of a star by a cosmological black hole

Dheeraj Pasham; Matteo Lucchini; Tanmoy Laskar; Benjamin Gompertz; Shubham Srivastav; Matt Nicholl; Stephen J. Smartt; James Miller-Jones; Kate Alexander; Rob Fender; Graham Smith; M. Fulton; Gulab Dewangan; Keith Gendreau; Eric Coughlin; Lauren Rhodes; Assaf Horesh; Sjoert van Velzen; Itai Sfaradi; Muryel Guolo; Noel Castro Segura; Aysha Aamer; Joseph Anderson; Iair Arcavi; Seán Brennan; Kenneth Chambers; Panos Charalampopoulos; Ting-Wan Chen; A. Clocchiatti; Thomas de Boer; Michel Dennefeld; Elizabeth Ferrara; Lluís Galbany; Hua Gao; James Gillanders; Adelle Goodwin; Mariusz Gromadzki; M. Huber; Peter Jonker; Manasvita Joshi; Erin Kara; Thomas Killestein; Peter Kosec; Daniel Kocevski; Giorgos Leloudas; Lin (林建爭) Chien-Cheng; Raffaella Margutti; Seppo Mattila; Thomas Moore; Tomás E. Müller-Bravo; Chow-Choong Ngeow

doi:10.1038/s41550-022-01820-x

The birth of a relativistic jet following the disruption of a star by a cosmological black hole

Dheeraj Pasham
, Matteo Lucchini
, Tanmoy Laskar
, Benjamin Gompertz
, Shubham Srivastav
, Matt Nicholl
, Stephen J. Smartt
, James Miller-Jones
, Kate Alexander
, Rob Fender
, Graham Smith
, M. Fulton
, Gulab Dewangan
, Keith Gendreau
, Eric Coughlin
, Lauren Rhodes
, Assaf Horesh
, Sjoert van Velzen
, Itai Sfaradi
, Muryel Guolo

Noel Castro Segura, Aysha Aamer, Joseph Anderson, Iair Arcavi, Seán Brennan, Kenneth Chambers, Panos Charalampopoulos, Ting-Wan Chen, A. Clocchiatti, Thomas de Boer, Michel Dennefeld, Elizabeth Ferrara, Lluís Galbany, Hua Gao, James Gillanders, Adelle Goodwin, Mariusz Gromadzki, M. Huber, Peter Jonker, Manasvita Joshi, Erin Kara, Thomas Killestein, Peter Kosec, Daniel Kocevski, Giorgos Leloudas, Lin (林建爭) Chien-Cheng, Raffaella Margutti, Seppo Mattila, Thomas Moore, Tomás E. Müller-Bravo, Chow-Choong Ngeow

School of Mathematics and Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

78 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A black hole can launch a powerful relativistic jet after it tidally disrupts a star. If this jet fortuitously aligns with our line of sight, the overall brightness is Doppler boosted by several orders of magnitude. Consequently, such on-axis relativistic tidal disruption events have the potential to unveil cosmological (redshift z > 1) quiescent black holes and are ideal test beds for understanding the radiative mechanisms operating in super-Eddington jets. Here we present multiwavelength (X-ray, UV, optical and radio) observations of the optically discovered transient AT 2022cmc at z = 1.193. Its unusual X-ray properties, including a peak observed luminosity of ≳1048 erg s−1, systematic variability on timescales as short as 1,000 s and overall duration lasting more than 30 days in the rest frame, are traits associated with relativistic tidal disruption events. The X-ray to radio spectral energy distributions spanning 5–50 days after discovery can be explained as synchrotron emission from a relativistic jet (radio), synchrotron self-Compton (X-rays) and thermal emission similar to that seen in low-redshift tidal disruption events (UV/optical). Our modelling implies a beamed, highly relativistic jet akin to blazars but requires extreme matter domination (that is, a high ratio of electron-to-magnetic-field energy densities in the jet) and challenges our theoretical understanding of jets.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	88–104
Journal	Nature Astronomy
Volume	7
Early online date	30 Nov 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01820-x
Publication status	Published - 01 Jan 2023

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Machine learning applications for transient discovery facing Rubin Science
Sheng, X. (Author), Nicholl, M. (Supervisor) & Smartt, S. (Supervisor), Jul 2026
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Thesis with Publications

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Pasham, D., Lucchini, M., Laskar, T., Gompertz, B., Srivastav, S., Nicholl, M., Smartt, S. J., Miller-Jones, J., Alexander, K., Fender, R., Smith, G., Fulton, M., Dewangan, G., Gendreau, K., Coughlin, E., Rhodes, L., Horesh, A., Velzen, S. V., Sfaradi, I., ... Ngeow, C.-C. (2023). The birth of a relativistic jet following the disruption of a star by a cosmological black hole. Nature Astronomy, 7, 88–104. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01820-x

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title = "The birth of a relativistic jet following the disruption of a star by a cosmological black hole",

abstract = "A black hole can launch a powerful relativistic jet after it tidally disrupts a star. If this jet fortuitously aligns with our line of sight, the overall brightness is Doppler boosted by several orders of magnitude. Consequently, such on-axis relativistic tidal disruption events have the potential to unveil cosmological (redshift z > 1) quiescent black holes and are ideal test beds for understanding the radiative mechanisms operating in super-Eddington jets. Here we present multiwavelength (X-ray, UV, optical and radio) observations of the optically discovered transient AT 2022cmc at z = 1.193. Its unusual X-ray properties, including a peak observed luminosity of ≳1048 erg s−1, systematic variability on timescales as short as 1,000 s and overall duration lasting more than 30 days in the rest frame, are traits associated with relativistic tidal disruption events. The X-ray to radio spectral energy distributions spanning 5–50 days after discovery can be explained as synchrotron emission from a relativistic jet (radio), synchrotron self-Compton (X-rays) and thermal emission similar to that seen in low-redshift tidal disruption events (UV/optical). Our modelling implies a beamed, highly relativistic jet akin to blazars but requires extreme matter domination (that is, a high ratio of electron-to-magnetic-field energy densities in the jet) and challenges our theoretical understanding of jets. ",

author = "Dheeraj Pasham and Matteo Lucchini and Tanmoy Laskar and Benjamin Gompertz and Shubham Srivastav and Matt Nicholl and Smartt, \{Stephen J.\} and James Miller-Jones and Kate Alexander and Rob Fender and Graham Smith and M. Fulton and Gulab Dewangan and Keith Gendreau and Eric Coughlin and Lauren Rhodes and Assaf Horesh and Velzen, \{Sjoert van\} and Itai Sfaradi and Muryel Guolo and Segura, \{Noel Castro\} and Aysha Aamer and Joseph Anderson and Iair Arcavi and Se{\'a}n Brennan and Kenneth Chambers and Panos Charalampopoulos and Ting-Wan Chen and A. Clocchiatti and Boer, \{Thomas de\} and Michel Dennefeld and Elizabeth Ferrara and Llu{\'i}s Galbany and Hua Gao and James Gillanders and Adelle Goodwin and Mariusz Gromadzki and M. Huber and Peter Jonker and Manasvita Joshi and Erin Kara and Thomas Killestein and Peter Kosec and Daniel Kocevski and Giorgos Leloudas and Chien-Cheng, \{Lin (林建爭)\} and Raffaella Margutti and Seppo Mattila and Thomas Moore and M{\"u}ller-Bravo, \{Tom{\'a}s E.\} and Chow-Choong Ngeow",

year = "2023",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41550-022-01820-x",

language = "English",

volume = "7",

pages = "88–104",

journal = "Nature Astronomy",

issn = "2397-3366",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

}

Pasham, D, Lucchini, M, Laskar, T, Gompertz, B, Srivastav, S , Nicholl, M , Smartt, SJ, Miller-Jones, J, Alexander, K, Fender, R, Smith, G, Fulton, M, Dewangan, G, Gendreau, K, Coughlin, E, Rhodes, L, Horesh, A, Velzen, SV, Sfaradi, I, Guolo, M, Segura, NC, Aamer, A, Anderson, J, Arcavi, I, Brennan, S, Chambers, K, Charalampopoulos, P, Chen, T-W, Clocchiatti, A, Boer, TD, Dennefeld, M, Ferrara, E, Galbany, L, Gao, H, Gillanders, J, Goodwin, A, Gromadzki, M, Huber, M, Jonker, P, Joshi, M, Kara, E, Killestein, T, Kosec, P, Kocevski, D, Leloudas, G, Chien-Cheng, L, Margutti, R, Mattila, S, Moore, T, Müller-Bravo, TE & Ngeow, C-C 2023, 'The birth of a relativistic jet following the disruption of a star by a cosmological black hole', Nature Astronomy, vol. 7, pp. 88–104. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01820-x

TY - JOUR

T1 - The birth of a relativistic jet following the disruption of a star by a cosmological black hole

AU - Pasham, Dheeraj

AU - Lucchini, Matteo

AU - Laskar, Tanmoy

AU - Gompertz, Benjamin

AU - Srivastav, Shubham

AU - Nicholl, Matt

AU - Smartt, Stephen J.

AU - Miller-Jones, James

AU - Alexander, Kate

AU - Fender, Rob

AU - Smith, Graham

AU - Fulton, M.

AU - Dewangan, Gulab

AU - Gendreau, Keith

AU - Coughlin, Eric

AU - Rhodes, Lauren

AU - Horesh, Assaf

AU - Velzen, Sjoert van

AU - Sfaradi, Itai

AU - Guolo, Muryel

AU - Segura, Noel Castro

AU - Aamer, Aysha

AU - Anderson, Joseph

AU - Arcavi, Iair

AU - Brennan, Seán

AU - Chambers, Kenneth

AU - Charalampopoulos, Panos

AU - Chen, Ting-Wan

AU - Clocchiatti, A.

AU - Boer, Thomas de

AU - Dennefeld, Michel

AU - Ferrara, Elizabeth

AU - Galbany, Lluís

AU - Gao, Hua

AU - Gillanders, James

AU - Goodwin, Adelle

AU - Gromadzki, Mariusz

AU - Huber, M.

AU - Jonker, Peter

AU - Joshi, Manasvita

AU - Kara, Erin

AU - Killestein, Thomas

AU - Kosec, Peter

AU - Kocevski, Daniel

AU - Leloudas, Giorgos

AU - Chien-Cheng, Lin (林建爭)

AU - Margutti, Raffaella

AU - Mattila, Seppo

AU - Moore, Thomas

AU - Müller-Bravo, Tomás E.

AU - Ngeow, Chow-Choong

PY - 2023/1/1

Y1 - 2023/1/1

N2 - A black hole can launch a powerful relativistic jet after it tidally disrupts a star. If this jet fortuitously aligns with our line of sight, the overall brightness is Doppler boosted by several orders of magnitude. Consequently, such on-axis relativistic tidal disruption events have the potential to unveil cosmological (redshift z > 1) quiescent black holes and are ideal test beds for understanding the radiative mechanisms operating in super-Eddington jets. Here we present multiwavelength (X-ray, UV, optical and radio) observations of the optically discovered transient AT 2022cmc at z = 1.193. Its unusual X-ray properties, including a peak observed luminosity of ≳1048 erg s−1, systematic variability on timescales as short as 1,000 s and overall duration lasting more than 30 days in the rest frame, are traits associated with relativistic tidal disruption events. The X-ray to radio spectral energy distributions spanning 5–50 days after discovery can be explained as synchrotron emission from a relativistic jet (radio), synchrotron self-Compton (X-rays) and thermal emission similar to that seen in low-redshift tidal disruption events (UV/optical). Our modelling implies a beamed, highly relativistic jet akin to blazars but requires extreme matter domination (that is, a high ratio of electron-to-magnetic-field energy densities in the jet) and challenges our theoretical understanding of jets.

AB - A black hole can launch a powerful relativistic jet after it tidally disrupts a star. If this jet fortuitously aligns with our line of sight, the overall brightness is Doppler boosted by several orders of magnitude. Consequently, such on-axis relativistic tidal disruption events have the potential to unveil cosmological (redshift z > 1) quiescent black holes and are ideal test beds for understanding the radiative mechanisms operating in super-Eddington jets. Here we present multiwavelength (X-ray, UV, optical and radio) observations of the optically discovered transient AT 2022cmc at z = 1.193. Its unusual X-ray properties, including a peak observed luminosity of ≳1048 erg s−1, systematic variability on timescales as short as 1,000 s and overall duration lasting more than 30 days in the rest frame, are traits associated with relativistic tidal disruption events. The X-ray to radio spectral energy distributions spanning 5–50 days after discovery can be explained as synchrotron emission from a relativistic jet (radio), synchrotron self-Compton (X-rays) and thermal emission similar to that seen in low-redshift tidal disruption events (UV/optical). Our modelling implies a beamed, highly relativistic jet akin to blazars but requires extreme matter domination (that is, a high ratio of electron-to-magnetic-field energy densities in the jet) and challenges our theoretical understanding of jets.

U2 - 10.1038/s41550-022-01820-x

DO - 10.1038/s41550-022-01820-x

M3 - Article

SN - 2397-3366

VL - 7

SP - 88

EP - 104

JO - Nature Astronomy

JF - Nature Astronomy

ER -

The birth of a relativistic jet following the disruption of a star by a cosmological black hole

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Machine learning applications for transient discovery facing Rubin Science

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