2025/08/31 by Natalie LeBaron, R. Margutti, LeBaron, Natalie +89 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #FOS: Physical sciences #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.00951
openalex publication_date 2025/08/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present an extensive photometric and spectroscopic ultraviolet-optical-infrared campaign on the luminous fast blue optical transient (LFBOT) AT 2024wpp over the first ~100 d. AT 2024wpp is the most luminous LFBOT discovered to date, with L_\rmpk≈(2-4)×1045 erg s-1 (5-10 times that of the prototypical AT 2018cow). This extreme luminosity enabled the acquisition of the most detailed LFBOT UV light curve thus far. In the first ~45 d, AT 2024wpp radiated >1051 erg, surpassing AT 2018cow by an order of magnitude and requiring a power source beyond the radioactive 56Ni decay of traditional supernovae. Like AT 2018cow, the UV-optical spectrum of AT 2024wpp is dominated by a persistently blue thermal continuum throughout our monitoring, with blackbody parameters at peak of T>30,000 K and R_\rmBB/t≈0.2-0.3c. A temperature of \gtrsim20,000 K is maintained thereafter without evidence for cooling. We interpret the featureless spectra as a consequence of continuous energy injection from a central source of high-energy emission which maintains high ejecta ionization. After 35 d, faint (equivalent width <10 Å) H and He spectral features with kinematically separate velocity components centered at 0 km s-1 and -6400 km s-1 emerge, implying spherical symmetry deviations. A near-infrared excess of emission above the optical blackbody emerges between 20-30 d with a power-law spectrum F\rmν,NIR∝ν-0.3 at 30 d. We interpret this distinct emission component as either reprocessing of early UV emission in a dust echo or free-free emission in an extended medium above the optical photosphere. LFBOT asphericity and multiple outflow components (including mildly relativistic ejecta) together with the large radiated energy are naturally realized by super-Eddington accretion disks around neutron stars or black holes and their outflows.