The Most Luminous Known Fast Blue Optical Transient AT 2024wpp: Unprecedented Evolution and Properties in the X-rays and Radio
A. J. Nayana, Raffaella Margutti, Eli Wiston, Tanmoy Laskar, Giulia Migliori, Ryan Chornock, Timothy J. Galvin, Natalie LeBaron, Aprajita Hajela, Collin T. Christy, Itai Sfaradi, Daichi Tsuna, Olivia Aspegren, Fabio De Colle, Brian D. Metzger, Wenbin Lu, Paz Beniamini, Daniel Kasen, Edo Berger, Brian W. Grefenstette, Kate D. Alexander, G. C. Anupama, Deanne L. Coppejans, Luigi F. Cruz, David R DeBoer, Maria R. Drout, Wael Farah, Xiaoshan Huang, W. V. Jacobson-Galán, Dan Milisavljevic, Alexander W. Pollak, Nathan J. Roth, Huei Sears, Andrew Siemion, Sofia Z. Sheikh, James F. Steiner, Indrek Vurm
Published: 2025/8/31
Abstract
We present X-ray (0.3--79 keV) and radio (0.25--203 GHz) observations of the most luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT) AT\,2024wpp at $z=0.0868$, spanning 2--280 days after first light. AT 2024wpp shows luminous ($L_{\rm X} \approx 1.5 \times 10^{43}\, \rm erg\,s^{-1}$), variable X-ray emission with a Compton hump peaking at $\delta t \approx 50$ days. The X-ray spectrum evolves from a soft ($F_{\nu} \propto \nu^{-0.6}$) to an extremely hard state ($F_{\nu} \propto \nu^{1.26}$) accompanied by a re-brightening at $\delta t \approx 50$\,days. The X-ray emission properties favor an embedded high-energy source shining through asymmetric expanding ejecta. We detect radio emission peaking at $L_{\rm 9\,GHz} \approx 1.7 \times 10^{29}\,\rm erg\,s^{-1}\,Hz^{-1}$ at $\delta t \approx 73$ days. The spectral evolution is unprecedented: the early millimeter fluxes rise nearly an order of magnitude during $\delta t \approx 17-32$ days followed by a decline in spectral peak fluxes. We model the radio emission as synchrotron radiation from an expanding blast wave interacting with a dense environment ($\dot{M} \sim 10^{-3}\, \rm M_{\odot}\,yr^{-1}$ for $v_{\rm w} = 1000\,\rm km\,s^{-1}$). The inferred outflow velocities increase from $\Gamma \beta c \approx 0.07\, \rm to\,0.42c$ during $\delta t \approx 32-73$ days, indicating an accelerating blast-wave. We interpret these observations as a shock propagating through a dense shell of radius $\approx 10^{16}$\,cm, then accelerating into a steep density profile $\rho_{\rm CSM}(r) \propto r^{-3.1}$. All radio-bright LFBOTs exhibit similar circumstellar medium (CSM) density profiles ($\rho_{\rm CSM} \propto r^{-3}$), suggesting similar progenitor processes. The X-ray and radio properties favor a progenitor involving super-Eddington accretion onto a compact object launching mildly-relativistic disk-wind outflows.