An Extremely Luminous Panchromatic Outburst from the Nucleus of a Distant Galaxy

Levan, A.; Tanvir, N.; Cenko, S.; Perley, D.; Wiersema, K.; Bloom, J.; Fruchter, A.; de Ugarte Postigo, A.; O’Brien, P.; Butler, N.; van der Horst, A.; Leloudas, G.; Morgan, A.; Misra, K.; Bower, G.; Farihi, J.; Tunnicliffe, R.; Modjaz, M.; Silverman, J.; Hjorth, J.; Thöne, C.; Cucchiara, A.; Castro Cerón, J.; Castro-Tirado, A.; Arnold, J.; Bremer, M.; Brodie, J.; Carroll, T.; Cooper, M.; Curran, Peter; Cutri, R.; Ehle, J.; Forbes, D.; Fynbo, J.; Gorosabel, J.; Graham, J.; Hoffman, D.; Guziy, S.; Jakobsson, P.; Kamble, A.; Kerr, T.; Kasliwal, M.; Kouveliotou, C.; Kocevski, D.; Law, N.; Nugent, P.; Ofek, E.; Poznanski, D.; Quimby, R.; Rol, E.; Romanowsky, A.; Sánchez-Ramírez, R.; Schulze, S.; Singh, N.; van Spaandonk, L.; Starling, R.; Strom, R.; Tello, J.; Vaduvescu, O.; Wheatley, P.; Wijers, R.; Winters, J.; Xu, D.

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Authors

Levan, A.

Tanvir, N.

Cenko, S.

Perley, D.

Wiersema, K.

Bloom, J.

Fruchter, A.

de Ugarte Postigo, A.

O’Brien, P.

Butler, N.

van der Horst, A.

Leloudas, G.

Morgan, A.

Misra, K.

Bower, G.

Farihi, J.

Tunnicliffe, R.

Modjaz, M.

Silverman, J.

Hjorth, J.

Thöne, C.

Cucchiara, A.

Castro Cerón, J.

Castro-Tirado, A.

Arnold, J.

Bremer, M.

Brodie, J.

Carroll, T.

Cooper, M.

Curran, Peter

Cutri, R.

Ehle, J.

Forbes, D.

Fynbo, J.

Gorosabel, J.

Graham, J.

Hoffman, D.

Guziy, S.

Jakobsson, P.

Kamble, A.

Kerr, T.

Kasliwal, M.

Kouveliotou, C.

Kocevski, D.

Law, N.

Nugent, P.

Ofek, E.

Poznanski, D.

Quimby, R.

Rol, E.

Romanowsky, A.

Sánchez-Ramírez, R.

Schulze, S.

Singh, N.

van Spaandonk, L.

Starling, R.

Strom, R.

Tello, J.

Vaduvescu, O.

Wheatley, P.

Wijers, R.

Winters, J.

Xu, D.

Date

2011

Type

Journal Article

Metadata

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Citation

Levan, A. and Tanvir, N. and Cenko, S. and Perley, D. and Wiersema, K. and Bloom, J. and Fruchter, A. et al. 2011. An Extremely Luminous Panchromatic Outburst from the Nucleus of a Distant Galaxy. Science. 333: pp. 199-202.

Source Title

Science

Abstract

Variable x-ray and g-ray emission is characteristic of the most extreme physical processes inthe universe. We present multiwavelength observations of a unique g-ray–selected transientdetected by the Swift satellite, accompanied by bright emission across the electromagneticspectrum, and whose properties are unlike any previously observed source. We pinpoint theevent to the center of a small, star-forming galaxy at redshift z = 0.3534. Its high-energyemission has lasted much longer than any g-ray burst, whereas its peak luminosity was~100 times higher than bright active galactic nuclei. The association of the outburst with thecenter of its host galaxy suggests that this phenomenon has its origin in a rare mechanisminvolving the massive black hole in the nucleus of that galaxy.