Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wzw2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-06T00:24:31.940Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A New Population of Highly Energetic Nuclear Transients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2019

E. Kankare*
Affiliation:
Astrophysics Research Centre, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, UK Tuorla Observatory, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
R. Kotak
Affiliation:
Tuorla Observatory, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
S. Mattila
Affiliation:
Tuorla Observatory, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
P. Lundqvist
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We have identified a new population of luminous, optical, narrow-lined transients (FWHM ∼1000 km s−1) coincident with the nuclear region of Seyfert galaxies. According to extensive spectrophotometric follow-ups of the main event (PS1-10adi), we could exclude both normal active galactic nucleus activity and changing-look quasars as the origin. The integrated energy output and spectral evolution over a time-scale of several years point to two possible paths of origin: a tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole, or an extremely energetic supernova occurring within the Seyfert galaxy’s narrow-line (or broad-line) region. The former model would require invoking a specific variant of a tidal disruption, while the latter would require an extremely efficient conversion of kinetic energy via shock interaction between the supernova ejecta and the dense ambient medium.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
© International Astronomical Union 2019 

References

Arcavi, I., Gal-Yam, A., Sullivan, M., et al. 2014, ApJ, 793, 38CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanchard, P. K., Nicholl, M., Berger, E., et al. 2017, ApJ, 843, 106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, K. C., Magnier, E. A., Metcalfe, N., et al. 2016, arXiv:1612.05560Google Scholar
Drake, A. J., Djorgovski, S. G., Mahabal, A., et al. 2009, ApJ, 696, 870CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, A. J., Djorgovski, S. G., Mahabal, A., et al. 2011, ApJ, 735, 106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gezari, S., Chornock, R., Rest, A., et al. 2012, Nature, 485, 217CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, M. J., Djorgovski, S. G., Drake, A. J., et al. 2017a, MNRAS, 470, 4112CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, M. J., Djorgovski, S. G., Stern, D. J., Drake, A., & Mahabal, A. 2017b, Astroinformatics, 325, 231Google Scholar
Inserra, C., Smartt, S. J., Jerkstrand, A., et al. 2013, ApJ, 770, 128CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, N., Wang, T., Yan, L., et al. 2017, ApJ, 850, 63CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kankare, E., Kotak, R., Mattila, S., et al. 2017, Nature Astronomy, 1, 865CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackey, J., Mohamed, S., Gvaramadze, V. V., et al. 2014, Nature, 512, 282CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacLeod, C. L., Ivezić, Ž., Sesar, B., et al. 2012, ApJ, 753, 106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacLeod, C. L., Ross, N. P., Lawrence, A., et al. 2016, MNRAS, 457, 389CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metzger, B. D., & Stone, N. C. 2016, MNRAS, 461, 948CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moriya, T. J., Maeda, K., Taddia, F., et al. 2013, MNRAS, 435, 1520CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moriya, T. J., Tanaka, M., Morokuma, T., & Ohsuga, K. 2017, ApJ, 843, L19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Netzer, H. 1990, in: Blandford, R. D., Netzer, H., & Woltjer, L., Active Galactic Nuclei (Springer, Berlin), p. 57Google Scholar
Piran, T., Svirski, G., Krolik, J., Cheng, R. M., & Shiokawa, H. 2015, ApJ, 806, 164CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Portegies Zwart, S. F., & van den Heuvel, E. P. J. 2007, Nature, 450, 388CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quimby, R. M., Kulkarni, S. R., Kasliwal, M. M., et al. 2011, Nature, 474, 487CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rees, M. J. 1988, Nature, 333, 523CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shiokawa, H., Krolik, J. H., Cheng, R. M., Piran, T., & Noble, S. C. 2015, ApJ, 804, 85CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strubbe, L. E., & Quataert, E. 2009, MNRAS, 400, 2070CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunyaev, R. A., & Titarchuk, L. G. 1980, A&A, 86, 121Google Scholar
Valenti, S., Kankare, E., Mattila, S., et al. 2010, ATel, 2838Google Scholar