Journal ArticleQuasi-periodic X-ray eruptions years after a nearby tidal disruption eventNicholl, M; Pasham, D R; Mummery, A; Guolo, M; Gendreau, K; Dewangan, G C; Ferrara, E C; Remillard, R; Bonnerot, C; Chakraborty, J; Hajela, A; Dhillon, V S; Gillan, A F; Greenwood, J; Huber, M E; Janiuk, A; Salvesen, G; van_Velzen, S; Aamer, A; Alexander, K D; Angus, C R; Arzoumanian, Z; Auchettl, K; Berger, E; de_Boer, T; Cendes, Y; Chambers, K C; Chen, T-W; Chornock, R; Fulton, M D; Gao, H; Gillanders, J H; Gomez, S; Gompertz, B P; Fabian, A C; Herman, J; Ingram, A; Kara, E; Laskar, T; Lawrence, A; Lin, C-C; Lowe, T B; Magnier, E A; Margutti, R; McGee, S L; Minguez, P; Moore, T; Nathan, E; Oates, S R; Patra, K C; Ramsden, P; Ravi, V; Ridley, E J; Sheng, X; Smartt, S J; Smith, K W; Srivastav, S; Stein, R; Stevance, H F; Turner, S_G D; Wainscoat, R J; Weston, J; Wevers, T; Young, D R<title>Abstract</title> <p>Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are luminous bursts of soft X-rays from the nuclei of galaxies, repeating on timescales of hours to weeks^1–5. The mechanism behind these rare systems is uncertain, but most theories involve accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) undergoing instabilities^6–8or interacting with a stellar object in a close orbit^9–11. It has been suggested that this disk could be created when the SMBH disrupts a passing star^8,11, implying that many QPEs should be preceded by observable tidal disruption events (TDEs). Two known QPE sources show long-term decays in quiescent luminosity consistent with TDEs^4,12and two observed TDEs have exhibited X-ray flares consistent with individual eruptions^13,14. TDEs and QPEs also occur preferentially in similar galaxies¹⁵. However, no confirmed repeating QPEs have been associated with a spectroscopically confirmed TDE or an optical TDE observed at peak brightness. Here we report the detection of nine X-ray QPEs with a mean recurrence time of approximately 48 h from AT2019qiz, a nearby and extensively studied optically selected TDE¹⁶. We detect and model the X-ray, ultraviolet (UV) and optical emission from the accretion disk and show that an orbiting body colliding with this disk provides a plausible explanation for the QPEs.</p>Nature2024-10-2410563402Nature6348035804 to 8080028-0836https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08023-62221789; 2224255; 2307668National Science Foundation