AT2018lqh: Black Hole Born from a Rotating Star?

Abstract

Recently an intriguing transient AT 2018lqh, with only a day-scale duration and a high luminosity of $7\times 10^{42}\mathrm{erg}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, has been discovered. While several possibilities are raised on its origin, the nature of this transient is yet to be unveiled. We propose that a black hole (BH) with $\sim 30M_{\odot }$ forming from a rotating blue supergiant can generate a transient like AT 2018lqh. We find that this scenario can consistently explain the optical/UV emission and the tentative late-time X-ray detection, as well as the radio upper limits. If super-Eddington accretion onto the nascent BH powers the X-ray emission, continued X-ray observations may be able to test the presence of an accretion disk around the BH.

8 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

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• Radiative diffusion in a time-dependent outflow: a model for fast blue optical transients
• Late-time Hubble Space Telescope Observations of AT 2018cow. I. Further Constraints on the Fading Prompt Emission and Thermal Properties 50--60 Days Post-discovery
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