Spectral analysis of Swift/XRT dataWe use the xspec v11.3.2 X-ray spectral fitting package to fit both a power law and a blackbody model to the XRT outburst data. In both models we allow for excess neutral hydrogen absorption (N H ) above the Galactic value along the line of sight to NGC 2770, N H,Gal = 1.7 × 10 20 cm −2 . The best-fit power law model (χ 2 = 7.5 for 17 degrees of freedom; probability, P = 0.98) has a photon index, Γ = 2.3 ± 0.3 (or, F ν ∝ ν −1.3±0.3 ) and N H = 6.9 +1.8 −1.5 × 10 21 cm −2 . The best-fit blackbody model is described by kT = 0.71 ± 0.08 keV and N H = 1.3 +1.0 −0.9 × 10 21 cm −2 . However, this model provides a much poorer fit to the data (χ 2 = 26.0 for 17 degrees of freedom; probability, P = 0.074). We therefore adopt the power law model as the best description of the data. The resulting count rate to flux conversion is 1 counts s −1 = 5 × 10 −11 erg cm −2 s −1 . The outburst undergoes a significant hard-to-soft spectral evolution as indicated by the ratio of counts in the 0.3 − 2 keV band and 2 − 10 keV band. The hardness ratio decreases from 1.35 ± 0.15 during the peak of the flare to 0.25 ± 0.10 about 400 s later. In the context of the power law model this spectral softening corresponds to a change from Γ = 1.70 ± 0.25 to 3.20 ± 0.35 during the same time interval. High resolution optical spectroscopyWe obtained the spectrum with the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) mounted on the Keck I 10-m telescope beginning at Jan 17.46 UT. A total of four 1800-s exposures were obtained with a spectral resolution, R = 48, 000, and a slit width of 0.86 arcsec. The data reach a signal-to-noise ratio of 18 per pixel. We reduced the data with the MAKEE reduction package. We are interested in the Na I D and K I absorption features since they are sensitive to the gas column density, and hence extinction, along the line of the sight to the SN. Rejecting a Relativistic Origin for XRO 080109We investigate the possibility that XRO 080109 is the result of a relativistic outflow similar to that in GRBs. In this context the emission is non-thermal synchrotron radiation. The outburst flux density is 7.5 × 10 2 µJy at 0.3 keV. Simultaneously, we find 3σ limits on the flux density in the UBV bands (∼ 3 eV) of F ν < 9.0 × 10 2 µJy, indicating that the peak of the synchrotron spectrum must be located between the UV and X-ray bands. In the standard synchrotron model this requires the frequencies corresponding to electrons with the minimum and cooling Lorentz factors to obey ν m ≈ ν c ≈ 3 × 10 16 Hz, while the peak of the spectrum is F ν,p ≈ 3 mJy.The inferred values of ν m and ν c allow us to constrain 47 the outflow parameters and thus to check for consistency with the hypothesis of relativistic expansion. The relevant parameters are the bulk Lorentz factor (γ), the magnetic field (B), and the shock radius (R sh ). From the value of ν c we find γB 3 ≈ 8.3 × 10 3 , and since γ > 1 we conclude that B < 20 G. In addition, using ν m we find ǫ 2 e γ 3 B ≈ 3 × 10 4 ; here ǫ e is the fraction of posts...

Active galactic nuclei, which are powered by long-term accretion onto central supermassive black holes, produce relativistic jets with lifetimes of at least one million years, and the observation of the birth of such a jet is therefore unlikely. Transient accretion onto a supermassive black hole, for example through the tidal disruption of a stray star, thus offers a rare opportunity to study the birth of a relativistic jet. On 25 March 2011, an unusual transient source (Swift J164449.3+573451) was found, potentially representing such an accretion event. Here we report observations spanning centimetre to millimetre wavelengths and covering the first month of evolution of a luminous radio transient associated with Swift J164449.3+573451. The radio transient coincides with the nucleus of an inactive galaxy. We conclude that we are seeing a newly formed relativistic outflow, launched by transient accretion onto a million-solar-mass black hole. A relativistic outflow is not predicted in this situation, but we show that the tidal disruption of a star naturally explains the observed high-energy properties and radio luminosity and the inferred rate of such events. The weaker beaming in the radio-frequency spectrum relative to γ-rays or X-rays suggests that radio searches may uncover similar events out to redshifts of z ≈ 6.

Long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) mark 1 the explosive death of some massive stars and are a rare sub-class of Type Ibc supernovae (SNe Ibc). They are distinguished by the production of an energetic and collimated relativistic outflow powered 2 by a central engine (an accreting black hole or neutron star).Observationally, this outflow is manifested 3 in the pulse of gamma-rays and a long-lived radio afterglow. To date, central engine-driven SNe have been discovered exclusively through their gamma-ray emission, yet it is expected 4 that a larger population goes undetected due to limited satellite sensitivity or beaming of the collimated emission away from our line-of-sight. In this framework, 2 Soderberg et al.the recovery of undetected GRBs may be possible through radio searches 5,6 for SNe Ibc with relativistic outflows. Here we report the discovery of luminous radio emission from the seemingly ordinary Type Ibc SN 2009bb, which requires a substantial relativistic outflow powered by a central engine. The lack of a coincident GRB makes SN 2009bb the first engine-driven SN discovered without a detected gamma-ray signal. A comparison with our extensive radio survey of SNe Ibc reveals that the fraction harboring central engines is low, ∼ 1%, measured independently from, but consistent with, the inferred 46 rate of nearby GRBs. Our study demonstrates that upcoming optical and radio surveys will soon rival gamma-ray satellites in pinpointing the nearest engine-driven SNe.A similar result for a different supernova is reported 8 independently. A Relativistic SN 3Unlike the optical emission from SNe which traces only the slowest explosion debris, radio observations uniquely probe 35 the fastest ejecta as the expanding blastwave (velocity, v) shocks and accelerates electrons in amplified magnetic fields. The resulting synchrotron emission is suppressed by self-absorption (SSA) producing a low frequency radio turnover that defines the spectral peak frequency, ν p . Combining our observations from the VLA and the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT), the radio spectra of SN 2009bbare well described by an SSA model across multiple epochs ( Figure 2). From our earliest spectrum on Apr 8 UT (∆t ≈ 20 days), we infer ν p ≈ 6 GHz and a spectral peak luminosity,Making the conservative assumption that the energy of the radio emitting material is partitioned equally into accelerating electrons and amplifying magnetic fields (equipartition), the properties of the SSA radio spectrum enable 13,35 a robust estimate of the blastwave radius, R ≈ 2.9 × 10 16 (L ν,p /10 28 erg ssynchrotron sources with a low spectral peak frequency thus require larger sizes (Figure 3).For SN 2009bb, we infer R ≈ 4.4 × 10 16 cm at ∆t ≈ 20 days and thus the mean expansion velocity is R/∆t = 0.85 ± 0.02c, where c is the speed of light. The transverse expansion speed, Γβc = R/∆t indicates that the blastwave is relativistic, Γ 1.3, at this time [bulk Lorentz factor Γ = (1 − β 2 ) −1/2 with β = v/c]. This is a lower limit on the initial velocity since th...

We present the first extensive radio to γ-ray observations of a fast-rising blue optical transient (FBOT), AT 2018cow, over its first ∼100 days. AT 2018cow rose over a few days to a peak luminosity L pk ∼ 4 × 10 44 erg s −1 exceeding those of superluminous supernovae (SNe), before declining as L ∝ t −2 . Initial spectra at δt 15 days were mostly featureless and indicated large expansion velocities v ∼ 0.1 c and temperatures arXiv:1810.10720v1 [astro-ph.HE] 25 Oct 2018 2 MARGUTTI ET AL. reaching T ∼ 3 × 10 4 K. Later spectra revealed a persistent optically-thick photosphere and the emergence of H and He emission features with v ∼ 4000 km s −1 with no evidence for ejecta cooling. Our broad-band monitoring revealed a hard X-ray spectral component at E ≥ 10 keV, in addition to luminous and highly variable soft X-rays, with properties unprecedented among astronomical transients. An abrupt change in the X-ray decay rate and variability appears to accompany the change in optical spectral properties. AT 2018cow showed bright radio emission consistent with the interaction of a blastwave with v sh ∼ 0.1 c with a dense environment (Ṁ ∼ 10 −3 − 10 −4 M yr −1 for v w = 1000 km s −1 ). While these properties exclude 56 Ni-powered transients, our multi-wavelength analysis instead indicates that AT 2018cow harbored a "central engine", either a compact object (magnetar or black hole) or an embedded internal shock produced by interaction with a compact, dense circumstellar medium. The engine released ∼ 10 50 − 10 51.5 erg over ∼ 10 3 − 10 5 s and resides within lowmass fast-moving material with equatorial-polar density asymmetry (M ej,fast 0.3 M ). Successful SNe from low-mass H-rich stars (like electron-capture SNe) or failed explosions from blue supergiants satisfy these constraints. Intermediate-mass black-holes are disfavored by the large environmental density probed by the radio observations.

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We present multi-wavelength observations of SN 2014C during the first 500 days. These observations represent the first solid detection of a young extragalactic stripped-envelope SN out to high-energy X-rays ∼40 keV. SN 2014C shows ordinary explosion parameters (E k ∼1.8×10 51 erg and M ej ∼1.7 M e ). However, over an ∼1 year timescale, SN 2014C evolved from an ordinary hydrogen-poor supernova into a strongly interacting, hydrogen-rich supernova, violating the traditional classification scheme of type-I versus type-II SNe. Signatures of the SN shock interaction with a dense medium are observed across the spectrum, from radio to hard X-rays, and revealed the presence of a massive shell of ∼1 M e of hydrogen-rich material at ∼6×10 16 cm. The shell was ejected by the progenitor star in the decades to centuries before collapse. This result challenges current theories of massive star evolution, as it requires a physical mechanism responsible for the ejection of the deepest hydrogen layer of H-poor SN progenitors synchronized with the onset of stellar collapse. Theoretical investigations point at binary interactions and/or instabilities during the last nuclear burning stages as potential triggers of the highly time-dependent mass loss. We constrain these scenarios utilizing the sample of 183 SNe Ib/c with public radio observations. Our analysis identifies SN 2014C-like signatures in ∼10% of SNe. This fraction is reasonably consistent with the expectation from the theory of recent envelope ejection due to binary evolution if the ejected material can survive in the close environment for 10 3 -10 4 years. Alternatively, nuclear burning instabilities extending to core C-burning might play a critical role.

We present continued multi-frequency radio observations of the relativistic tidal disruption event Swift J164449.3+573451 (Sw 1644+57) extending to t ≈ 600 days. The data were obtained with the JVLA and AMI Large Array as part of our on-going study of the jet energetics and the density structure of the parsec-scale environment around the disrupting supermassive black hole. We combine these data with public Swift/XRT and Chandra X-ray observations over the same time-frame to show that the jet has undergone a dramatic transition starting at ≈500 days, with a sharp decline in the X-ray flux by about a factor of 170 on a timescale of δt/t 0.2 (and by a factor of 15 in δt/t ≈ 0.05). The rapid decline rules out a forward shock origin (direct or reprocessing) for the X-ray emission at 500 days, and instead points to internal dissipation in the inner jet. On the other hand, our radio data uniquely demonstrate that the low X-ray flux measured by Chandra at ≈610 days is consistent with emission from the forward shock. Furthermore, the Chandra data are inconsistent with thermal emission from the accretion disk itself since the expected temperature of ∼30-60 eV and inner radius of ∼2-10 R s cannot accommodate the observed flux level or the detected emission at 1 keV. We associate the rapid decline with a turn off of the relativistic jet when the mass accretion rate dropped below ∼Ṁ Edd ≈ 0.006 M yr −1 (for a 3 × 10 6 M black hole and order unity efficiency) indicating that the peak accretion rate was about 330Ṁ Edd , and the total accreted mass by t ≈ 500 days is about 0.15 M . From the radio data we further find significant flattening in the integrated energy of the forward shock at t 250 days with E j,iso ≈ 2 × 10 54 erg (E j ≈ 10 52 erg for a jet opening angle, θ j = 0.1) following a rise by about a factor of 15 at ≈30-250 days. Projecting forward, we predict that the emission in the radio and X-ray bands will evolve in tandem with similar decline rates.

Cosmic neutrinos provide a unique window into the otherwise-hidden mechanism of particle acceleration in astrophysical objects. A flux of high-energy neutrinos was discovered