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Abstract: ABSTRACT We present a search for luminous long-duration ambiguous nuclear transients (ANTs) similar to the unprecedented discovery of the extreme ambiguous event AT2021lwx with a $\gt 150$ d rise time and luminosity $10^{45.7}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We use the Lasair transient broker to search Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) data for transients lasting more than one year and exhibiting smooth declines. Our search returns 59 events, 7 of which we classify as ANTs assumed to be driven by accretion onto supermassive black holes. We propose the remaining 52 are stochastic variability from regular supermassive black hole accretion rather than distinct transients. We supplement the seven ANTs with three nuclear transients in ZTF that fail the light curve selection but have clear single flares and spectra that do not resemble typical active galactic nucleus. All of these 11 ANTs have a mid-infrared flare from an assumed dust echo, implying the ubiquity of dust around the black holes giving rise to ANTs. No events are more luminous than AT2021lwx, but one (ZTF19aamrjar) has twice the duration and a higher integrated energy release. On the other extreme, ZTF20abodaps reaches a luminosity close to AT2021lwx with a rise time $\lt 20$ d and that fades smoothly in $\gt 600$ d. We define a portion of rise-time versus flare amplitude space that selects ANTs with $\sim 50$ per cent purity against variable AGNs. We calculate a volumetric rate of $\gtrsim 3\times 10^{-11}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ yr$^{-1}$, consistent with the events being caused by tidal disruptions of intermediate and high-mass stars.
Keywords: tidal disruption events, accretion
Published in RUNG: 06.02.2025; Views: 660; Downloads: 8
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Abstract: Context. We present the wavelength-resolved reverberation mapping (RM) of combined Mg II and UV Fe II broad-line emissions for two intermediate-redshift (z ∼ 1), luminous quasars, HE 0413-4031 and HE 0435-4312, monitored by the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and 1m class telescopes between 2012 and 2022. Aims. Using a wavelength-resolved technique, we aim to disentangle the Mg II and Fe II emission regions and to build a radius–luminosity (R–L) relation for UV Fe II emission, which has so far remained unconstrained. Methods. We applied several time-delay methodologies to constrain the time delays for total Mg II and Fe II emissions. In addition, wavelength-resolved RM is performed to quantify the inflow or outflow of broad-line region (BLR) gas around the supermassive black hole and to disentangle the emission and the emitting regions based on lines produced in proximity to each other. Results. The mean total FeII time delay is nearly equal to the mean total MgII time delay for HE 0435-4312, suggesting the co-spatiality of their emission regions. However, in HE 0413-4031, the mean FeII time delay is found to be longer than the mean MgII time delay, suggesting that FeII emission is produced at greater distances from the black hole. The UV FeII R–L relation is updated with these two quasars (now four in total) and compared with the optical FeII relation (20 sources), which suggests that the optical FeII emission region is located further than the UV FeII region by a factor of 1.7–1.9, that is, RFeII-opt ∼ (1.7 − 1.9)RFeII-UV. Conclusion. Wavelength-resolved reverberation is an efficient way to constrain the geometry and structure of the BLR. We detected a weak pattern in the time delay versus wavelength relation, suggesting that the MgII broad line originates from a region slightly closer to the SMBH than the UV FeII pseudo continuum, although the difference is not very significant. Comparison of MgII, UV, and optical FeII R–L relations suggests that the difference may be greater for lower-luminosity sources, possibly with the MgII emission originating further from the SMBH. In the future, more RM data will be acquired, allowing better constraints on these trends, in particular the UV FeII R–L relation.
Keywords: accretion, accretion disks, emission lines, photometric, spectroscopic
Published in RUNG: 13.11.2023; Views: 2964; Downloads: 7
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Abstract: Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs) are rare transients, which are considered to be promising tools in probing supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their environments in quiescent galaxies, accretion physics, and jet formation mechanisms. The majority of $\approx$ 60 detected TDEs has been discovered with large field of view time-domain surveys in the last two decades. Currently, about 10 TDEs are discovered per year, and we expect this number will increase largely once the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) at Vera C. Rubin Observatory begins its observations. In this work we demonstrate and explore the capabilities of the LSST to study TDEs. To begin with, we simulate LSST observations of TDEs over $10$ years of survey duration by including realistic SED models from MOSFiT into the simulation framework of the LSST. SEDs are then converted into observed fluxes and light curves are simulated with the LSST observing strategy minion_1016. Simulated observations are used to estimate the number of TDEs the LSST is expected to observe and to assess the possibility of probing the SMBH mass distribution in the Universe with the observed TDE sample. We find that the LSST has a potential of observing ~1000 TDEs per year, the exact number depending on the SMBH mass distribution and the adopted observing strategy. In spite of this large number, we find that probing the SMBH mass distribution with LSST observed TDEs will not be straightforward, especially at the low-mass end. This is largely attributed to the fact that TDEs caused by low-mass black holes ($\le 10^6 M_\odot$) are less luminous and shorter than TDEs by heavier SMBHs ($> 10^6 M_\odot$), and the probability of observationally missing them with LSST is higher. Second, we built a MAF TDE metric for photometric identification of TDEs based on LSST data. We use the metric to evaluate the performance of different proposed survey strategies in identifying TDEs with pre-defined identification requirements. Since TDEs are blue in color for months after peak light, which separates them well from SNe and AGN, we include u-band observations as one of the criteria for a positive identification. We find that the number of identified TDEs strongly depends of the observing strategy and the number of u-band visits to a given field in the sky. Observing strategies with a larger number of u-band observations perform significantly better. For these strategies up to 10% of LSST observed TDEs satisfy the identification requirements.
Keywords: Ground-based ultraviolet, optical and infrared telescopes Astronomical catalogs, atlases, sky surveys, databases, retrieval systems, archives, Black holes, Galactic nuclei (including black holes), circumnuclear matter, and bulges, Infall, accretion, and accretion disks
Published in RUNG: 03.01.2022; Views: 4891; Downloads: 113
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