A quasar microlensing event towards J1249+3449?. (29th September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: De Paolis, F; Nucita, A A; Strafella, F; Licchelli, D; Ingrosso, G
• Is Part Of: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Volume 499:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: L87
• Page End: L90
• Publication Date: 2020-09-29
• Subjects: gravitational lensing: micro -- galaxies: quasars: general -- galaxies: quasars: individual: AGN J1249+3449; Astronomy -- Research -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1093/mnrasl/slaa140
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1745-3933

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We show that the optical flare event discovered by Graham et al. towards the active galactic nucleus J1249+3449 is fully consistent with being a quasar microlensing event due to a ≃0.1 M⊙ star, although other explanations, such as that, mainly supported by Graham et al., of being the electromagnetic counterpart associated with a binary black hole merger, cannot be completely excluded at present.