ASASSN-15lh

ASASSN-15lh
A visual band light curve for ASASSN-15lh, plotted from data published by Godoy-Rivera et al. (2017).[1] The purple line shows the brightness of the host galaxy.
SLSNe (Type Ic), SNSLSN-I Edit this on Wikidata
Right ascension22h 2m 15.45s[2]
Declination−61° 39′ 34.64″[2]
Distance1,171 megaparsecs
3.82 gigalight-years
Redshift0.2326 Edit this on Wikidata
HostAPMUKS(BJ) B215839.70−615403.9[3]
Peak apparent magnitude16.9
Other designationsSN 2015L
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ASASSN-15lh (supernova designation SN 2015L) is an extremely luminous astronomical transient event discovered by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN), with the appearance of a superluminous supernova event. It was first detected on June 14, 2015, located within a faint galaxy in the southern constellation Indus, and was the most luminous supernova-like object ever observed.[4] At its peak, ASASSN-15lh was 570 billion times brighter than the Sun, and 20 times brighter than the combined light emitted by the Milky Way Galaxy.[4] The emitted energy was exceeded by PS1-10adi.

The nature of ASASSN-15lh is disputed. The most popular explanations are that it is the most luminous type I supernova (hypernova) ever observed, or a tidal disruption event around a supermassive black hole. Other hypotheses include: gravitational lensing; a quark nova inside a Wolf–Rayet star; or a rapid magnetar spindown.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference gr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference sky was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dong was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Jessica Orwig (January 14, 2016). "Astronomers are baffled by a newly discovered cosmic explosion that shines 570 billion times brighter than the sun". Business Insider. Retrieved March 22, 2016.