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Abstract AT 2019azh is a H+He tidal disruption event (TDE) with one of the most extensive ultraviolet and optical data sets available to date. We present our photometric and spectroscopic observations of this event starting several weeks before and out to approximately 2 yr after theg-band's peak brightness and combine them with public photometric data. This extensive data set robustly reveals a change in the light-curve slope and a possible bump in the rising light curve of a TDE for the first time, which may indicate more than one dominant emission mechanism contributing to the pre-peak light curve. Indeed, we find that theMOSFiT-derived parameters of AT 2019azh, which assume reprocessed accretion as the sole source of emission, are not entirely self-consistent. We further confirm the relation seen in previous TDEs whereby the redder emission peaks later than the bluer emission. The post-peak bolometric light curve of AT 2019azh is better described by an exponential decline than by the canonicalt−5/3(and in fact any) power-law decline. We find a possible mid-infrared excess around the peak optical luminosity, but cannot determine its origin. In addition, we provide the earliest measurements of the Hαemission-line evolution and find no significant time delay between the peak of theV-band light curve and that of the Hαluminosity. These results can be used to constrain future models of TDE line formation and emission mechanisms in general. More pre-peak 1–2 days cadence observations of TDEs are required to determine whether the characteristics observed here are common among TDEs. More importantly, detailed emission models are needed to fully exploit such observations for understanding the emission physics of TDEs.
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Probing the Subparsec Dust of a Supermassive Black Hole with the Tidal Disruption Event AT 2020mot
Abstract AT 2020mot is a typical UV/optical tidal disruption event (TDE) with no radio or X-ray signatures in a quiescent host. We find ani-band excess and rebrightening along the decline of the light curve which could be due to two consecutive dust echoes from the TDE. We model our observations following van Velzen et al. and find that the near-infrared light curve can be explained by concentric rings of thin dust within ∼0.1 pc of a ∼6 × 106M⊙supermassive black hole (SMBH), among the smallest scales at which dust has been inferred near SMBHs. We find dust covering factors of orderfc≤ 2%, much lower than found for dusty tori of active galactic nuclei. These results highlight the potential of TDEs for uncovering the environments around black holes when including near-infrared observations in high-cadence transient studies.
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- PAR ID:
- 10488519
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 961
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 239
- Size(s):
- Article No. 239
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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