Mapping the Inner 0.1 pc of a Supermassive Black Hole Environment with the Tidal Disruption Event and Extreme Coronal-line Emitter AT 2022upj
Extreme coronal-line emitters (ECLEs) are objects showing transient high-ionization lines in the centers of galaxies. They have been attributed to echoes of high-energy flares of ionizing radiation, such as those produced by tidal disruption events (TDEs), but have only recently been observed within...
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2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8a69 |
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| author | Megan Newsome Iair Arcavi D. Andrew Howell Curtis McCully Giacomo Terreran Griffin Hosseinzadeh K. Azalee Bostroem Yael Dgany Joseph Farah Sara Faris Estefania Padilla-Gonzalez Craig Pellegrino Moira Andrews |
| author_facet | Megan Newsome Iair Arcavi D. Andrew Howell Curtis McCully Giacomo Terreran Griffin Hosseinzadeh K. Azalee Bostroem Yael Dgany Joseph Farah Sara Faris Estefania Padilla-Gonzalez Craig Pellegrino Moira Andrews |
| author_sort | Megan Newsome |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Extreme coronal-line emitters (ECLEs) are objects showing transient high-ionization lines in the centers of galaxies. They have been attributed to echoes of high-energy flares of ionizing radiation, such as those produced by tidal disruption events (TDEs), but have only recently been observed within hundreds of days after an optical transient was detected. AT 2022upj is a nuclear UV–optical flare at z = 0.054, with spectra showing [Fe x] λ 6375 and [Fe xiv ] λ 5303 during the optical peak, the earliest presence of extreme coronal lines during an ongoing transient. AT 2022upj is also the second ever ECLE (and the first with a concurrent flare) to show broad He ii λ 4686 emission, a key signature of optical/UV TDEs. We also detect X-ray emission during the optical transient phase, which may be related to the source of ionizing photons for the extreme coronal lines. Finally, we analyze the spectroscopic evolution of each emission line and find that [Fe x] and [Fe xiv ] weaken within 400 days of the optical peak, while [Fe vii ] λ 5720, [Fe vii ] λ 6087, and [O iii ] λλ 4959,5007 emerge over the same period. The velocities of the iron lines indicate circumnuclear gas within 0.1 pc of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH), while a dust echo inferred from NEOWISE data indicates that circumnuclear dust lies a minimum of 0.4 pc away, providing evidence of stratified material around an SMBH. AT 2022upj is thus the first confirmed ECLE–TDE with clear signatures of both classes and with spectroscopic evolution on a ∼year-long timescale. This event helps unveil the impacts of highly energetic flares such as TDEs on the complex environments around SMBHs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-40474d94df274f71b2f149f2c7a520fb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-40474d94df274f71b2f149f2c7a520fb2024-12-18T10:01:13ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-01977225810.3847/1538-4357/ad8a69Mapping the Inner 0.1 pc of a Supermassive Black Hole Environment with the Tidal Disruption Event and Extreme Coronal-line Emitter AT 2022upjMegan Newsome0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9570-0584Iair Arcavi1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7090-4898D. Andrew Howell2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4253-656XCurtis McCully3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5807-7893Giacomo Terreran4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0794-5982Griffin Hosseinzadeh5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0832-2974K. Azalee Bostroem6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4924-444XYael Dgany7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7579-1105Joseph Farah8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4914-5625Sara Faris9https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8485-1281Estefania Padilla-Gonzalez10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0209-9246Craig Pellegrino11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7472-1279Moira Andrews12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1895-6639Las Cumbres Observatory , 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117-5575, USA; Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530, USASchool of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv 69978, IsraelLas Cumbres Observatory , 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117-5575, USA; Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530, USALas Cumbres Observatory , 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117-5575, USALas Cumbres Observatory , 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117-5575, USASteward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USASteward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USASchool of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv 69978, IsraelLas Cumbres Observatory , 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117-5575, USA; Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530, USASchool of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv 69978, IsraelLas Cumbres Observatory , 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117-5575, USA; Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA 22904, USALas Cumbres Observatory , 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117-5575, USA; Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530, USAExtreme coronal-line emitters (ECLEs) are objects showing transient high-ionization lines in the centers of galaxies. They have been attributed to echoes of high-energy flares of ionizing radiation, such as those produced by tidal disruption events (TDEs), but have only recently been observed within hundreds of days after an optical transient was detected. AT 2022upj is a nuclear UV–optical flare at z = 0.054, with spectra showing [Fe x] λ 6375 and [Fe xiv ] λ 5303 during the optical peak, the earliest presence of extreme coronal lines during an ongoing transient. AT 2022upj is also the second ever ECLE (and the first with a concurrent flare) to show broad He ii λ 4686 emission, a key signature of optical/UV TDEs. We also detect X-ray emission during the optical transient phase, which may be related to the source of ionizing photons for the extreme coronal lines. Finally, we analyze the spectroscopic evolution of each emission line and find that [Fe x] and [Fe xiv ] weaken within 400 days of the optical peak, while [Fe vii ] λ 5720, [Fe vii ] λ 6087, and [O iii ] λλ 4959,5007 emerge over the same period. The velocities of the iron lines indicate circumnuclear gas within 0.1 pc of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH), while a dust echo inferred from NEOWISE data indicates that circumnuclear dust lies a minimum of 0.4 pc away, providing evidence of stratified material around an SMBH. AT 2022upj is thus the first confirmed ECLE–TDE with clear signatures of both classes and with spectroscopic evolution on a ∼year-long timescale. This event helps unveil the impacts of highly energetic flares such as TDEs on the complex environments around SMBHs.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8a69Tidal disruptionGalaxy accretionHigh energy astrophysics |
| spellingShingle | Megan Newsome Iair Arcavi D. Andrew Howell Curtis McCully Giacomo Terreran Griffin Hosseinzadeh K. Azalee Bostroem Yael Dgany Joseph Farah Sara Faris Estefania Padilla-Gonzalez Craig Pellegrino Moira Andrews Mapping the Inner 0.1 pc of a Supermassive Black Hole Environment with the Tidal Disruption Event and Extreme Coronal-line Emitter AT 2022upj The Astrophysical Journal Tidal disruption Galaxy accretion High energy astrophysics |
| title | Mapping the Inner 0.1 pc of a Supermassive Black Hole Environment with the Tidal Disruption Event and Extreme Coronal-line Emitter AT 2022upj |
| title_full | Mapping the Inner 0.1 pc of a Supermassive Black Hole Environment with the Tidal Disruption Event and Extreme Coronal-line Emitter AT 2022upj |
| title_fullStr | Mapping the Inner 0.1 pc of a Supermassive Black Hole Environment with the Tidal Disruption Event and Extreme Coronal-line Emitter AT 2022upj |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping the Inner 0.1 pc of a Supermassive Black Hole Environment with the Tidal Disruption Event and Extreme Coronal-line Emitter AT 2022upj |
| title_short | Mapping the Inner 0.1 pc of a Supermassive Black Hole Environment with the Tidal Disruption Event and Extreme Coronal-line Emitter AT 2022upj |
| title_sort | mapping the inner 0 1 pc of a supermassive black hole environment with the tidal disruption event and extreme coronal line emitter at 2022upj |
| topic | Tidal disruption Galaxy accretion High energy astrophysics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8a69 |
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