Fast Optical Photometry of Galaxies: Observations of Short-Lived Flare Events

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We have monitored two bright galaxies, M85 and NGC7331, on timescales as short as 0.01s. In the optical, we discovered an unusual burst coincident with the galaxy M85. We registered a sudden onset with a characteristic time of less than 10ms with subsequent quasi-exponential decay within approximately 1s and an amplitude of 2.5mag in the V-band. In the course of high-speed monitoring with two Crimean telescopes operated synchronously, in both independent instruments we have registered one coincident event occurring in NGC7331 with a duration of 0.6s. The amplitudes range from 3mag to 0.3mag in the U-band and I-band, respectively. Merging of an intermediate-mass black hole with a small black hole or normal star seems to be the most plausible mechanism responsible for short bursts. Our observations support the hypothesis concerning the existence of intermediate-mass black holes in the centers of galaxies and in dense globular clusters.