Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Recently Assef et al. presented two catalogs of active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates over 30,093 deg2 selected from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) observations. From their most reliable sample, Assef et al. identified 45 AGN candidates with the highest variability levels in the AllWISE catalog but that are not blazars. Here we present new spectroscopic observations of some of these targets to further constrain their nature. We also study their optical light curves using observations from the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS) and find that only seven show significant optical variability, and that five of those seven are spectroscopically classified as AGNs. In one of them, WISEA J094806.56+031801.7 (W0948+0318), we identify a transient event in the CRTS light curve. We present a detailed analysis of this transient and characterize it through its CRTS light curve and its multiwavelength spectral energy distribution obtained from GALEX, Pan-STARRS, and WISE observations. We find that the most likely source of the transient is a superluminous supernova (SLSN) in W0948+0318. We estimate the total radiated energy to be E = (1.6 ± 0.3) × 1052 erg, making it one of the most energetic SLSNe observed. Based on the lack of change in mid-IR color throughout and after the transient event, we speculate that the location of the SLSN is within the torus of the AGN. We identify nine possible analogs to W0948+0318 based on their WISE light curves. None show optically detected transients and hence suggest significant dust obscuration. Finally, we estimate a rate of >2 × 10−7 yr−1 per AGN for these transients under the conservative assumption that none of the identified analogs have a common origin with the transient in W0948+0318.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
Institutions: Universidad Diego Portales, Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Space Telescope Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, École Normale Supérieure - PSL, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Yale University, Vanderbilt University, Princeton University, Ohio State University, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Portsmouth, New Mexico State University, Space Telescope Science Institute, York University, Queen's University Belfast, Durham University, National Research Foundation, Queen's University, National Research Foundation of Korea, National Central University, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Office of Science, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, College of Engineering, Michigan State University, University of California, Los Angeles, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Science Mission Directorate, Planetary Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Awards: G2174630492, The Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS), A COMPREHENSIVE DUAL HEMISPHERE NEO SURVEY., G3143225424, G3727113875, G4474636675, G5069178956, G5808996516, G618131832, A NEO SEARCH PROGRAM USING THE PAN-STARRS PS1 TELESCOPETHE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO USE T, G7187964967, G7236595668, Pan-STARRS1: Operations; Public Data Release; Education and Outreach, G7950275392, G833430883
OpenAlex ID: W2894884439