AT 2018lqh: Black Hole Born from a Rotating Star?
Abstract
Recently an intriguing transient, AT 2018lqh, with only a day-scale duration and a high luminosity of 7 × 1042 erg s-1, was discovered. While several possibilities are raised on its origin, the nature of this transient is yet to be unveiled. We propose that a black hole (BH) with ~30 M ⊙ forming from a rotating blue supergiant can generate a transient like AT 2018lqh. We find that this scenario can consistently explain the optical/UV emission and the tentative late-time X-ray detection, as well as the radio upper limits. If super-Eddington accretion onto the nascent BH powers the X-ray emission, continued X-ray observations may be able to test the presence of an accretion disk around the BH.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- December 2021
- DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8213/ac3997
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2110.07164
- Bibcode:
- 2021ApJ...922L..34T
- Keywords:
-
- 98;
- 1851;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 8 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters