An extremely luminous tidal disruption event from a massive rotating black hole
Abstract: ASASSN-15lh was proposed to be the most luminous supernova ever discovered. Based on new evidence we suggest that this event is not a superluminous supernova but a tidal disruption event around a supermassive black hole. Arguments in favour of this interpretation include: the light curve and temperature evolution, the spectroscopic properties of the event and the surrounding medium and its location being consistent with the nucleus of a passive and massive galaxy. Due to its high mass, the black hole has to be spinning rapidly for the tidal disruption to occur outside its event horizon.