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Abstract We report the discovery of an extended emission-line region (EELR) in MUSE observations of Markarian 950, a nearby (z= 0.01628) poststarburst (PSB) galaxy that hosted the tidal disruption event (TDE) iPTF 16fnl. The EELR requires a nonstellar ionizing continuum with a luminosity $L_{\mathrm{ion},\min }\gtrsim {10}^{43}$erg s⁻¹, inconsistent with the current weak state (L_IR,AGN< 2.5 × 10⁴²erg s⁻¹) of the galactic nucleus. The ionized gas has low velocity (∼–50 km s⁻¹) and low turbulence (σ_gas≲ 50 km s⁻¹) and is kinematically decoupled from the stellar motions, indicating that the gas kinematics is not active galactic nucleus (AGN) driven. Markarian 950 is the third PSB galaxy to host a weak nuclear ionizing source as well as an EELR and a TDE. The overall properties of these three galaxies, including the kinematics and accretion history, are unusual but strikingly similar. We estimate that the incidence of EELRs in PSB-TDE hosts is a factor of ∼10 × higher than in other PSB galaxies. This suggests that a gas-rich postmerger environment is a key ingredient in driving elevated TDE rates. Based on the current observations, we cannot rule out that the EELRs may be powered through an elevated TDE rate in these galaxies. If the EELRs are not TDE powered, the presence of intermittent AGN activity, and in particular the fading of the AGN, may be associated with an increased TDE rate and/or an increased rate of detecting TDEs. 

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.