Discovery of a long-lived, high-amplitude dusty

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 460; no. 3; p. 2822
• Main Authors: Britt, C T, Maccarone, T J, Green, J D, Jonker, P G, Hynes, R I, Torres, M A P, Strader, J, Chomiuk, L, Salinas, R, Lucas, P, Pena, C Contreras, Kurtev, R, Heinke, C, Smith, L, Wright, N J, Johnson, C, Steeghs, D, Nelemans, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Oxford University Press 01.08.2016
• Subjects: Accretion; Astronomy; Categories; Infrared radiation; Luminosity; Massive stars; Nova; Outbursts; Space telescopes; Stars & galaxies; X-ray sources
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966

We report the detection of an infrared-selected transient which has lasted at least five years, first identified by a large mid-infrared and optical outburst from a faint X-ray source detected with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. In this paper we rule out several scenarios for the cause of this outburst, including a classical nova, a luminous red nova, AGN flaring, a stellar merger, and intermediate luminosity optical transients, and interpret this transient as the result of a young stellar object (YSO) of at least solar mass accreting material from the remains of the dusty envelope from which it formed, in isolation from either a dense complex of cold gas or massive star formation. This object does not fit neatly into other existing categories of large outbursts of YSOs (FU Orionis types) which may be a result of the object's mass, age, and environment. It is also possible that this object is a new type of transient unrelated to YSOs.