AT 2022cmc is a luminous optical transient (νLν ≳ 1045 erg s−1) accompanied by decaying non-thermal X-rays (peak duration tX ≲ days and isotropic energy EX,iso ≳ 1053 erg) and a long-lived radio/mm synchrotron afterglow, which has been interpreted as a jetted tidal disruption event (TDE). Both an equipartition analysis and a detailed afterglow model reveal the radio/mm emitting plasma to be expanding mildly relativistically (Lorentz factor $\Gamma \gtrsim \, \mathrm{ few}$ ) with an opening angle θj ≃ 0.1 and roughly fixed energy Ej,iso ≳ few × 1053 erg into an external medium of density profile n ∝ R−k with k ≃ 1.5–2, broadly similar to that of the first jetted TDE candidate Swift J1644+57 and consistent with Bondi accretion at a rate of ∼$10^{-3}\,\dot{M}_{\rm Edd}$ on to a 106 M⊙ black hole before the outburst. The rapidly decaying optical emission over the first days is consistent with fast-cooling synchrotron radiation from the same forward shock as the radio/mm emission, while the bluer slowly decaying phase to follow likely represents a separate thermal emission component. Emission from the reverse shock may have peaked during the first days, but its non-detection in the optical band places an upper bound Γj ≲ 100 on the Lorentz factor of the unshocked jet. Although a TDE origin for AT 2022cmc is indeed supported by some observations, the vast difference between the short-lived jet activity phase tX ≲ days and the months-long thermal optical emission also challenges this scenario. A stellar core-collapse event giving birth to a magnetar or black hole engine of peak duration ∼1 d offers an alternative model also consistent with the circumburst environment, if interpreted as a massive star wind.
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The deaths of massive stars are sometimes accompanied by the launch of highly relativistic and collimated jets. If the jet is pointed towards Earth, we observe a ‘prompt’ gamma-ray burst due to internal shocks or magnetic reconnection events within the jet, followed by a long-lived broadband synchrotron afterglow as the jet interacts with the circumburst material. While there is solid observational evidence that emission from multiple shocks contributes to the afterglow signature, detailed studies of the reverse shock, which travels back into the explosion ejecta, are hampered by a lack of early-time observations, particularly in the radio band. We present rapid follow-up radio observations of the exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst GRB 221009A that reveal in detail, both temporally and in frequency space, an optically thick rising component from the reverse shock. From this, we are able to constrain the size, Lorentz factor and internal energy of the outflow while providing accurate predictions for the location of the peak frequency of the reverse shock in the first few hours after the burst. These observations challenge standard gamma-ray burst models describing reverse shock emission.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 2138147
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10480917
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Astronomy
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Astronomy
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 2397-3366
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 986 to 995
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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