Abstract Tidal disruption events (TDEs) that are spatially offset from the nuclei of their host galaxies offer a new probe of massive black hole (MBH) wanderers, binaries, triples, and recoiling MBHs. Here we present AT2024tvd, the first off-nuclear TDE identified through optical sky surveys. High-resolution imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope shows that AT2024tvd is 0 914 ± 0 010 offset from the apparent center of its host galaxy, corresponding to a projected distance of 0.808 ± 0.009 kpc atz= 0.045. Chandra and Very Large Array observations support the same conclusion for the TDE’s X-ray and radio emission. AT2024tvd exhibits typical properties of nuclear TDEs, including a persistent hot UV/optical component that peaks atLbb ∼ 6 × 1043erg s−1, broad hydrogen lines in its optical spectra, and delayed brightening of luminous (LX,peak ∼ 3 × 1043erg s−1), highly variable soft X-ray emission. The MBH mass of AT2024tvd is 106±1M⊙, at least 10 times lower than its host galaxy’s central black hole mass (≳108M⊙). The MBH in AT2024tvd has two possible origins: a wandering MBH from the lower-mass galaxy in a minor merger during the dynamical friction phase or a recoiling MBH ejected by triple interactions. Combining AT2024tvd with two previously known off-nuclear TDEs discovered in X-rays (3XMM J2150 and EP240222a), which likely involve intermediate-mass black holes in satellite galaxies, we find that the parent galaxies of all three events are very massive (∼1010.9M⊙). This result aligns with expectations from cosmological simulations that the number of offset MBHs scales linearly with the host halo mass.
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This content will become publicly available on July 27, 2027
TDE 2025abcr: A Tidal Disruption Event in the Outskirts of a Massive Galaxy
Abstract Tidal disruption events (TDEs) have traditionally been discovered in optical sky surveys through targeted searches of nuclear transients. However, it is expected that some TDEs will occur outside the galaxy nucleus, arising from wandering black holes (BHs) originating in galaxy mergers. Here, we present observations of TDE 2025abcr, the first optical TDE discovered in the outskirts of a host galaxy. The TDE was identified by a custom “off-nuclear” implementation of the machine learning classifiertdescore, which classifies new ZTF transients based on their lightcurves. Follow-up observations confirm that TDE 2025abcr is a TDE-H+He, occurring 9 5 (9.3 kpc projected distance) from the nucleus of a massive galaxy (M⋆= 1011.18±0.03M⊙) with a central BH mass of 108.82±0.65M⊙. TDE 2025abcr itself was likely disrupted by a much lighter BH (106.09±0.53M⊙, as estimated with peak luminosity scaling relations). The BH was either dynamically ejected from the nucleus or lies at the center of a very faint tidally stripped dwarf galaxy undergoing a minor merger. Late-time observations of TDE 2025abcr could confirm the origin of this apparent “wandering” BH. The rate of highly offset (≳3 kpc) TDEs can be constrained to <10% of the nuclear TDE rate, but our discovery implies that many dozens of similar sources will be detected by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory each year with resolvable offsets.
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- PAR ID:
- 10707380
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Astronomical Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Volume:
- 1006
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2041-8205
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- L57
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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