Discovery of a Long-Lived, High Amplitude Dusty Infrared Transient

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a long-lasting, high-amplitude infrared transient likely caused by a young stellar object accreting material, representing a potentially new class of astronomical transient phenomena.

Contribution

It identifies and characterizes a unique infrared transient that does not fit existing categories, suggesting a new type of stellar or extragalactic transient event.

Findings

Transient lasted at least 5 years

Likely caused by a young stellar object accreting material

Does not fit existing transient categories

Abstract

We report the detection of an infrared selected transient which has lasted at least 5 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.