Radio Properties of Tidal Disruption Events Alexander, Kate D.; van Velzen, Sjoert; Horesh, Assaf ...
Space science reviews,
08/2020, Letnik:
216, Številka:
5
Journal Article
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Radio observations of tidal disruption events (TDEs) probe material ejected by the disruption of stars by supermassive black holes (SMBHs), uniquely tracing the formation and evolution of jets and ...outflows, revealing details of the disruption hydrodynamics, and illuminating the environments around previously-dormant SMBHs. To date, observations reveal a surprisingly diverse population. A small fraction of TDEs (at most a few percent) have been observed to produce radio-luminous mildly relativistic jets. The remainder of the population are radio quiet, producing less luminous jets, non-relativistic outflows or, possibly, no radio emission at all. Here, we review the radio observations that have been made of TDEs to date and discuss possible explanations for their properties, focusing on detected sources and, in particular, on the two best-studied events: Sw J1644+57 and ASASSN-14li. We also discuss what we have learned about the host galaxies of TDEs from radio observations and review constraints on the rates of bright and faint radio outflows in TDEs. Upcoming X-ray, optical, near-IR, and radio surveys will greatly expand the sample of TDEs, and technological advances open the exciting possibility of discovering a sample of TDEs in the radio band unbiased by host galaxy extinction.
ABSTRACT Compact binary mergers may have already been observed as they are the leading model for short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs). Radioactive decay within the ejecta from these mergers is expected to ...produce an infrared flare, dubbed macronova (or kilonova), on a timescale of a week. Recently, two such macronova candidates were identified in followup observations of sGRBs, strengthening the possibility that those indeed arise from mergers. The same ejecta will also produce long-term (months to years) radio emission due to its interaction with the surrounding interstellar medium. In the search for this emission, we observed the two macronova candidates, GRB 130603B and GRB 060614, with the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). Our observations resulted in null-detections, putting strong upper limits on the kinetic energy and mass of the ejecta. A possible outcome of a merger is a highly magnetized neutron star (a magnetar), which has been suggested as the central engine for GRBs. Such a magnetar will deposit a significant fraction of its energy into the ejecta leading to a brighter radio flare. Our results, therefore, rule out magnetars in these two events.
From the first two seasons of the Palomar Transient Factory, we identify three peculiar transients (PTF 09dav, PTF 10iuv, and PTF 11bij) with five distinguishing characteristics: peak luminosity in ...the gap between novae and supernovae (M sub(R) approx = -15.5 to -16.5 mag), rapid photometric evolution (t sub(rise)approx = 12-15 days), large photospheric velocities (approx =6000-11,000 km s super(-1)), early spectroscopic evolution into nebular phase (approx =1-3 months), and peculiar nebular spectra dominated by calcium. We also culled the extensive decade-long Lick Observatory Supernova Search database and identified an additional member of this group, SN 2007ke. Our choice of photometric and spectroscopic properties was motivated by SN 2005E (Perets et al.). To our surprise, as in the case of SN 2005E, all four members of this group are also clearly offset from the bulk of their host galaxy. Given the well-sampled early- and late-time light curves, we derive ejecta masses in the range of 0.4-0.7 M sub(middot in circle). Spectroscopically, we find that there may be a diversity in the photospheric phase, but the commonality is in the unusual nebular spectra. Our extensive follow-up observations rule out standard thermonuclear and standard core-collapse explosions for this class of "calcium-rich gap" transients. If the progenitor is a white dwarf, we are likely seeing a detonation of the white dwarf core and perhaps even shock-front interaction with a previously ejected nova shell. If the progenitor is a massive star, a nonstandard channel specific to a low-metallicity environment needs to be invoked (e.g., ejecta fallback leading to black hole formation). Detection (or the lack thereof) of a faint underlying host (dwarf galaxy and cluster) will provide a crucial and decisive diagnostic to choose between these alternatives.
We present multiwavelength modeling of the afterglow from the long γ-ray burst (GRB) 160625B using Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques of the afterglowpy Python package. GRB 160625B is an extremely ...bright burst with a rich set of observations spanning from radio to γ-ray frequencies. These observations range from ∼0.1 days to >1000 days, thus making this event extremely well suited to such modeling. In this work we compare top-hat and Gaussian jet structure types in order to find best-fit values for the GRB jet collimation angle, viewing angle, and other physical parameters. We find that a Gaussian-shaped jet is preferred (2.7 -5.3 ) over the traditional top-hat model. Our estimate for the opening angle of the burst ranges from 1 26 to 3 90, depending on jet-shape model. We also discuss the implications that assumptions on jet shape, viewing angle, and particularly the participation a fraction of electrons have on the final estimation of GRB intrinsic energy release and the resulting energy budget of the relativistic outflow. Most notably, allowing the participation fraction to vary results in an estimated total relativistic energy of ∼1053 erg. This is two orders of magnitude higher than when the total fraction is assumed to be unity; thus, this parameter has strong relevance for placing constraints on long GRB central engines, details of the circumburst media, and host environment.
ABSTRACT We report a multiwavelength (X-ray, ultraviolet/optical/infrared (UVOIR), radio) analysis of the relativistic tidal disruption event (TDE) candidate Sw J2058+05 from 3 months to 3 yr ...post-discovery in order to study its properties and compare its behavior with that of Sw J1644+57. Our main results are as follows: (1) The long-term X-ray light curve of Sw J2058+05 shows a remarkably similar trend to that of Sw J1644+57. After a prolonged power-law decay, the X-ray flux drops off rapidly by a factor of 160 within a span of Δt/ . Associating this sudden decline with the transition from super-Eddington to sub-Eddington accretion, we estimate the black hole mass to be in the range of 104-6 M . (2) We detect rapid ( 500 s) X-ray variability before the drop-off, suggesting that, even at late times, the X-rays originate from close to the black hole (ruling out a forward-shock origin). (3) We confirm using Hubble Space Telescope and Very Long Baseline Array astrometry that the location of the source coincides with the galaxy's center to within 400 pc (in projection). (4) We modeled Sw J2058+05's UVOIR spectral energy distribution with a single-temperature blackbody and find that while the radius remains more or less constant at a value of 63.4 4.5 AU ( cm) at all times during the outburst, the blackbody temperature drops significantly from ∼30,000 K at early times to a value of ∼15,000 K at late times (before the X-ray drop-off). Our results strengthen Sw J2058+05's interpretation as a TDE similar to Sw J1644+57.
The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) is a multiepochal robotic survey of the northern sky that acquires data for the scientific study of transient and variable astrophysical phenomena. The camera and ...telescope provide for wide-field imaging in optical bands. In the five years of operation since first light on 2008 December 13, images taken with Mould-R and SDSS-g′ camera filters have been routinely acquired on a nightly basis (weather permitting), and two different Hα filters were installed in 2011 May (656 and 663 nm). The PTF image-processing and data-archival program at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) is tailored to receive and reduce the data, and, from it, generate and preserve astrometrically and photometrically calibrated images, extracted source catalogs, and co-added reference images. Relational databases have been deployed to track these products in operations and the data archive. The fully automated system has benefited by lessons learned from past IPAC projects and comprises advantageous features that are potentially incorporable into other ground-based observatories. Both off-the-shelf and in-house software have been utilized for economy and rapid development. The PTF data archive is curated by the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). A state-of-the-art custom Web interface has been deployed for downloading the raw images, processed images, and source catalogs from IRSA. Access to PTF data products is currently limited to an initial public data release (M81, M44, M42, SDSS Stripe 82, and the Kepler Survey Field). It is the intent of the PTF collaboration to release the full PTF data archive when sufficient funding becomes available.
Abstract
The optical-ultraviolet transient AT 2021loi is located at the center of its host galaxy. Its spectral features identify it as a member of the Bowen fluorescence flare (BFF) class. The first ...member of this class was considered to be related to a tidal disruption event, but enhanced accretion onto an already active supermassive black hole was suggested as an alternative explanation. Having occurred in a previously known unobscured active galactic nucleus, AT 2021loi strengthens the latter interpretation. Its light curve is similar to those of previous BFFs, showing a rebrightening approximately 1 yr after the main peak (which was not explicitly identified but might be the case in all previous BFFs). An emission feature around 4680 Å, seen in the preflare spectrum, strengthens by a factor of ∼2 around the optical peak of the flare and is clearly seen as a double-peaked feature then, suggesting a blend of N
iii
λ
4640 with He
ii
λ
4686 as its origin. The appearance of O
iii
λ
3133 and possible N
iii
λλ
4097, 4103 (blended with H
δ
) during the flare further support a Bowen fluorescence classification. Here we present ZTF, ATLAS, Keck, Las Cumbres Observatory, NEOWISE-R, Swift AMI, and Very Large Array observations of AT 2021loi, making it one of the best-observed BFFs to date. It thus provides some clarity on the nature of BFFs but also further demonstrates the diversity of nuclear transients.
We report the discovery by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) of the transient source PTF11agg, which is distinguished by three primary characteristics: (1) bright, rapidly fading, optical transient ...emission; (2) a faint, blue-quiescent optical counterpart; and (3) an associated year-long, scintillating radio transient. The observed properties are all consistent with the population of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), marking the first time such an outburst has been discovered in the distant universe independent of a high-energy trigger. We searched for possible high-energy counterparts to PTF11agg, but found no evidence for associated prompt emission. We therefore consider three possible scenarios to account for a GRB-like afterglow without a high-energy counterpart: an "untriggered" GRB, an "orphan" afterglow. While not definitive, we nonetheless speculate that PTF11agg may represent a new, more common class of relativistic outbursts lacking associated high-energy emission. If so, such sources will be uncovered in large numbers by future wide-field optical and radio transient surveys.
We have identified a luminous star at the position of supernova (SN) 2011dh/PTF11eon, in pre-SN archival, multi-band images of the nearby, nearly face-on galaxy Messier 51 (M51) obtained by the ...Hubble Space Telescope with the Advanced Camera for Surveys. This identification has been confirmed, to the highest available astrometric precision, using a Keck-II adaptive-optics image. The available early-time spectra and photometry indicate that the SN is a stripped-envelope, core-collapse Type IIb, with a more compact progenitor (radius ~ 1011 cm) than was the case for the well-studied SN IIb 1993J. We infer that the extinction to SN 2011dh and its progenitor arises from a low Galactic foreground contribution, and that the SN environment is of roughly solar metallicity. The detected object has absolute magnitude M 0 V --7.7 and effective temperature ~6000 K. The star's radius, ~1013 cm, is more extended than what has been inferred for the SN progenitor. We speculate that the detected star is either an unrelated star very near the position of the actual progenitor, or, more likely, the progenitor's companion in a mass-transfer binary system. The position of the detected star in a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is consistent with an initial mass of 17-19 M . The light of this star could easily conceal, even in the ultraviolet, the presence of a stripped, compact, very hot (~105 K), nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet star progenitor.
ABSTRACT GRB 130925A is one of the recent additions to the growing family of ultra-long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs; T90 1000 s). While the X-ray emission of ultra-long GRBs have been studied extensively ...in the past, no comprehensive radio data set has been obtained so far. We report here the early discovery of an unusual radio afterglow associated with the ultra-long GRB 130925A. The radio emission peaks at low-frequencies (∼7 GHz) at early times, only 2.2 days after the burst occurred. More notably, the radio spectrum at frequencies above 10 GHz exhibits a rather steep cut-off, compared to other long GRB radio afterglows. This cut-off can be explained if the emitting electrons are either mono-energetic or originate from a rather steep, dN/dE ∝ E−4, power-law energy distribution. An alternative electron acceleration mechanism may be required to produce such an electron energy distribution. Furthermore, the radio spectrum exhibits a secondary underlying and slowly varying component. This may hint that the radio emission we observed is comprised of emission from both a reverse and a forward shock. We discuss our results in comparison with previous works that studied the unusual X-ray spectrum of this event and discuss the implications of our findings on progenitor scenarios.
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