stars

The fast, luminous ultraviolet transient AT2018cow: extreme supernova, or disruption of a star by an intermediate-mass black hole?

Wide-field optical surveys have begun to uncover large samples of fast (trise łesssim 5 d), luminous (Mpeak < -18), blue transients. While commonly attributed to the breakout of a supernova shock into a dense wind, the great distances to the …