A Luminous Jetted Tidal Disruption Event Discovered by the ZTF Optical Survey

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are bursts of electromagnetic energy released when supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the centers of galaxies violently disrupt a star that passes too close. TDEs provide a new window to study accretion onto SMBHs; in some rare cases, this accretion leads to launching of a relativistic jet, but the necessary conditions are not fully understood. The best studied jetted TDE to date is Swift J1644+57, which was detected in gamma-rays more than a decade ago, but was too obscured by dust to be seen at optical wavelengths. I will present the discovery of AT2022cmc, a rapidly fading source at redshift z~1.2 found in Zwicky Transient Facility survey data, whose unique light curve transitioned into a luminous plateau within days. Observations of an exceptionally bright counterpart at X-ray, sub-millimeter, and radio wavelengths supported the interpretation of AT2022cmc as a rare jetted TDE containing a synchrotron afterglow, likely launched by a rapidly spinning SMBH. Finally, I will discuss implications for rates and future prospects.