AT2022zod

Here we present AT2022zod, an extreme, short-lived optical flare in an elliptical galaxy at z = 0.11, residing within 3 kpc from the galaxy’s centre. Its luminosity and ∼30-day duration make it unlikely to have originated from the host galaxy’s central supermassive black hole (SMBH), which we estimate to have a mass of ∼ 108 M⊙. Assuming that the emission mechanism is consistent with known observed TDEs, we find that such a rapidly evolving transient could either be produced by a MBH in the intermediate-mass range or, alternatively, result from the tidal disruption of a star on a non-parabolic orbit around the central SMBH.