The Fast, Luminous Ultraviolet Transient AT2018cow: Extreme Supernova, or Disruption of a Star by an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole?

Daniel A. Perley, Paolo A. Mazzali, Lin Yan +60

Wide-field optical surveys have begun to uncover large samples of fast (t_rise < 5d), luminous (M_peak < -18), blue transients. While commonly attributed to the breakout of a super…