The Superluminous Transient ASASSN-15lh as a Tidal Disruption Event from a Kerr Black Hole

Understand

When a star passes within the tidal radius of a supermassive black hole, it will be torn apart.

• For a star with the mass of the Sun ($M_\odot$) and a non-spinning black hole with a mass $<10^8 M_\odot$, the tidal radius lies outside the black hole event horizon and the disruption results in a luminous flare.
• Here we report observations over a period of 10 months of a transient, hitherto interpreted as a superluminous supernova.
• Our data show that the transient rebrightened substantially in the ultraviolet and that the spectrum went through three different spectroscopic phases without ever becoming nebular.