An Embedded X-Ray Source Shines through the Aspherical AT 2018cow: Revealing the Inner Workings of the Most Luminous Fast-evolving Optical Transients

Abstract

We present the first extensive radio to γ-ray observations of a fast-rising blue optical transient, AT 2018cow, over its first ~100 days. AT 2018cow rose over a few days to a peak luminosity L_(pk) ~ 4 × 10^(44) erg s^(−1), exceeding that of superluminous supernovae (SNe), before declining as L ∝ t^(−2). Initial spectra at δt ≾ 15 days were mostly featureless and indicated large expansion velocities v ~ 0.1c and temperatures reaching T ~ 3 × 10^4 K. Later spectra revealed a persistent optically thick photosphere and the emergence of H and He emission features with v ~ 4000 km s^(−1) with no evidence for ejecta cooling. Our broadband monitoring revealed a hard X-ray spectral component at E ≥ 10 keV, in addition to luminous and highly variable soft X-rays, with properties unprecedented among astronomical transients. An abrupt change in the X-ray decay rate and variability appears to accompany the change in optical spectral properties. AT 2018cow showed bright radio emission consistent with the interaction of a blast wave with v_(sh) ~ 0.1c with a dense environment (M ~ 10^(-3) – 10^(-4) M⊙ Yr^(-1) for v w = 1000 km s−1). While these properties exclude ^(56)Ni-powered transients, our multiwavelength analysis instead indicates that AT 2018cow harbored a "central engine," either a compact object (magnetar or black hole) or an embedded internal shock produced by interaction with a compact, dense circumstellar medium. The engine released ~10^(50)–10^(51.5) erg over ~10^3–10^5 s and resides within low-mass fast-moving material with equatorial–polar density asymmetry (M_(ej,fast) ≾ 0.3 M ☉). Successful SNe from low-mass H-rich stars (like electron-capture SNe) or failed explosions from blue supergiants satisfy these constraints. Intermediate-mass black holes are disfavored by the large environmental density probed by the radio observations.