AT 2021lwx

AT 2021lwx (also known as ZTF20abrbeie or "Scary Barbie"[2]) is the most energetic non-quasar optical transient astronomical event ever observed, with a peak luminosity of 7 × 1045 erg per second (erg s−1) and a total radiated energy of more than 1.5 × 1053 erg over three years.[1] Only GRB 221009A was more energetic, while also being far brighter. It was first identified in imagery obtained on 13 April 2021 by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) astronomical survey[3] and is believed to be due to the accretion of matter into a super massive black hole (SMBH) heavier than one hundred million solar masses (M☉).[2][1][4] It has a redshift of z = 0.9945,[1] which would place it at a distance of about eight billion light-years from earth,[4] and is located in the constellation Vulpecula.[5] No host galaxy has been detected.[2][1]

(Upper) Light curve of AT2021lwx. (Lower left) Pan-STARRS upper limits up to 750 d (rest frame) before the first detection of AT2021lwx. (Lower right) Comparison to similar transients.[1]
Rest-frame UV and optical spectra of AT2021lwx and similar objects.[1]

Forced photometry of earlier ZTF imagery showed AT 2021lwx had already begun brightening by 16 June 2020, as ZTF20abrbeie. It was also detected independently in data from the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) as ATLAS20bkdj, and the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) as PS22iin. At the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, X-ray observations were made with the X-ray Telescope and ultraviolet, with the Ultraviolet-Optical Telescope (UVOT).[2][1]

Subrayan et al. originally interpreted it to be a tidal disruption event between an SMBH (~108 M☉) and a massive star (~14 M☉).[2] Wiseman et al. disfavor this interpretation, and instead believe the most likely scenario is "the sudden accretion of a large amount of gas, potentially a giant molecular cloud"[1] (~1,000 M☉),[6] onto an SMBH (>108 M☉).[1][7]

The inferred mass of the SMBH, based on the light to mass ratio, is about 1 hundred million - 1 billion solar masses, given the observed brightness. However, the theoretical limit for an accreting super massive black hole is 1 hundred million solar masses. Given the best understood model of accreting SMBH's, this even may be the most massive SMBH to possibly accrete matter.[8]

See also
  • Ophiuchus Supercluster eruption, a 5 × 1061-erg event that may have occurred up to 240 million years ago, revealed by a giant radio fossil
  • MS 0735.6+7421, a 1061-erg eruption that has been occurring for the last 100 million years
  • GRB 080916C, an 8.8 × 1054-erg gamma-ray burst seen in 2008[9]
  • GRB 221009A, a gamma-ray burst seen in 2022 that was brighter than AT 2021lwx, but less energetic, since it lasted for only ten hours[5]
  • hypernova – Supernova that ejects a large mass at unusually high velocity

References
  1. Wiseman, p.; Wang, Y.; Hönig, S.; Castero-Segura, N.; Clark, P.; Frohmaier, C.; Fulton, M. D.; Leloudas, G.; Middleton, M.; Müller-Bravo, T. E.; Mummery, A.; Pursiainen, M; Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K.; Sullivan, M. (July 2023). "Multiwavelength observations of the extraordinary accretion event AT 2021lwx". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 522 (3): 3992–4002. doi:10.1093/mnras/stad1000 – via Oxford Academic.
  2. Subrayan, Bhagya M.; Milisavljevic, Dan; Chornock, Ryan; Margutti, Raffaella; Alexander, Kate D.; Ramakrishnan, Vandana; Duffell, Paul C.; Dickinson, Danielle A.; Lee, Kyoung-Soo; Giannios, Dimitrios; Lentner, Geoffery; Linvill, Mark; Garretson, Braden; Graham, Matthew J.; Stern, Daniel (1 May 2023). "Scary Barbie: An Extremely Energetic, Long-duration Tidal Disruption Event Candidate without a Detected Host Galaxy at z = 0.995". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 948 (2): L19. arXiv:2302.10932. Bibcode:2023ApJ...948L..19S. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/accf1a. ISSN 2041-8205.
  3. J. Nordin, V. Brinnel, J. van Santen, A. Gal-Yam, O. Yaron, S. Schulze (10 May 2021). "Discovery certificate for object 2021lwx". IAU Transient Name Server.
  4. Overbye, Dennis (12 May 2023). "The Biggest Explosion in the Cosmos Just Keeps Going - For three years, telescopes have monitored "one of the most luminous" events ever: a supermassive black hole consuming a gigantic cloud of interstellar gas". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-05-12. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  5. Kahlon, Gurjeet (5 November 2023). "Astronomers reveal the largest cosmic explosion ever seen". Royal Astronomical Society. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  6. "This Is The Largest Cosmic Explosion In The Universe Ever Seen". IFLScience. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  7. "'Terrifying': Why the universe's largest cosmic explosion is called 'Scary Barbie'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  8. Mockler, Brenna; Guillochon, James; Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico (20 February 2019). "Weighing Black Holes Using Tidal Disruption Events". The Astrophysical Journal. 872 (2): 151. arXiv:1801.08221. Bibcode:2019ApJ...872..151M. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab010f.
  9. Fermi LAT and Fermi GBM Collaborations (27 March 2009). "Fermi Observations of High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from GRB 080916C". Science. 323 (5922): 1688–1693. Bibcode:2009Sci...323.1688A. doi:10.1126/science.1169101. PMID 19228997. S2CID 263421340. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
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