title: A possible relativistic jetted outburst from a massive black hole fed by a tidally disrupted star.
abstract: Gas accretion onto some massive black holes (MBHs) at the centers of galaxies actively powers luminous emission, but most MBHs are considered dormant. Occasionally, a star passing too near an MBH is torn apart by gravitational forces, leading to a bright tidal disruption flare (TDF). Although the high-energy transient Sw 1644+57 initially displayed none of the theoretically anticipated (nor previously observed) TDF characteristics, we show that observations suggest a sudden accretion event onto a central MBH of mass about 10(6) to 10(7) solar masses. There is evidence for a mildly relativistic outflow, jet collimation, and a spectrum characterized by synchrotron and inverse Compton processes; this leads to a natural analogy of Sw 1644+57 to a temporary smaller-scale blazar.
authors.affiliation: Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA. jbloom@astro.berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Joshua S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bloom
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giannios
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Metzger
authors.forename: S Bradley
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Cenko
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Perley
authors.forename: Nathaniel R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Nial R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Tanvir
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Levan
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Linda E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Strubbe
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Colle
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ramirez-Ruiz
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sergei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nayakshin
authors.forename: Eliot
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Quataert
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cucchiara
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guillochon
authors.forename: Geoffrey C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Bower
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Fruchter
authors.forename: Adam N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van der Horst