| 1. |
- Pursiainen, M., et al.
(författare)
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SN 2018bsz : A Type I superluminous supernova with aspherical circumstellar material
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 666
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a spectroscopic analysis of the most nearby Type I superluminous supernova (SLSN-I), SN 2018bsz. The photometric evolution of SN 2018bsz has several surprising features, including an unusual pre-peak plateau and evidence for rapid formation of dust ≳200 d post-peak. We show here that the spectroscopic and polarimetric properties of SN 2018bsz are also unique. While its spectroscopic evolution closely resembles SLSNe-I, with early O II absorption and C II P Cygni profiles followed by Ca, Mg, Fe, and other O features, a multi-component Hα profile appearing at ∼30 d post-maximum is the most atypical. The Hα is at first characterised by two emission components, one at ∼+3000 km s−1 and a second at ∼ − 7500 km s−1, with a third, near-zero-velocity component appearing after a delay. The blue and central components can be described by Gaussian profiles of intermediate width (FWHM ∼ 2000–6000 km s−1), but the red component is significantly broader (FWHM ≳ 10 000 km s−1) and Lorentzian. The blue Hα component evolves towards a lower-velocity offset before abruptly fading at ∼ + 100 d post-maximum brightness, concurrently with a light curve break. Multi-component profiles are observed in other hydrogen lines, including Paβ, and in lines of Ca II and He I. Spectropolarimetry obtained before (10.2 d) and after (38.4 d) the appearance of the H lines shows a large shift on the Stokes Q – U plane consistent with SN 2018bsz undergoing radical changes in its projected geometry. Assuming the supernova is almost unpolarised at 10.2 d, the continuum polarisation at 38.4 d reaches P ∼ 1.8%, implying an aspherical configuration. We propose that the observed evolution of SN 2018bsz can be explained by highly aspherical, possibly disk-like, circumstellar material (CSM) with several emitting regions. After the supernova explosion, the CSM is quickly overtaken by the ejecta, but as the photosphere starts to recede, the different CSM regions re-emerge, producing the peculiar line profiles. Based on the first appearance of Hα, we can constrain the distance of the CSM to be less than ∼6.5 × 1015 cm (430 AU), or even lower (≲87 AU) if the pre-peak plateau is related to an eruption that created the CSM. The presence of CSM has been inferred previously for other SLSNe-I, both directly and indirectly. However, it is not clear whether the rare properties of SN 2018bsz can be generalised for SLSNe-I, for example in the context of pulsational pair instability, or whether they are the result of an uncommon evolutionary path, possibly involving a binary companion.
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| 2. |
- Charalampopoulos, P., et al.
(författare)
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A detailed spectroscopic study of tidal disruption events
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 659
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Spectroscopically, tidal disruption events (TDEs) are characterized by broad (similar to 10(4) km s(-1)) emission lines and show a large diversity as well as different line profiles. After carefully and consistently performing a series of data reduction tasks including host galaxy light subtraction, we present here the first detailed, spectroscopic population study of 16 optical and UV TDEs. We study a number of emission lines prominent among TDEs including Hydrogen, Helium, and Bowen lines and we quantify their evolution with time in terms of line luminosities, velocity widths, and velocity offsets. We report a time lag between the peaks of the optical light curves and the peak luminosity of H alpha spanning between similar to 7 and 45 days. If interpreted as light echoes, these lags correspond to distances of similar to 2 - 12 x 10(16) cm, which are one to two orders of magnitudes larger than the estimated blackbody radii (R-BB) of the same TDEs and we discuss the possible origin of this surprisingly large discrepancy. We also report time lags for the peak luminosity of the He I 5876 angstrom line, which are smaller than the ones of H alpha for H TDEs and similar or larger for N III Bowen TDEs. We report that N III Bowen TDEs have lower H alpha velocity widths compared to the rest of the TDEs in our sample and we also find that a strong X-ray to optical ratio might imply weakening of the line widths. Furthermore, we study the evolution of line luminosities and ratios with respect to their radii (R-BB) and temperatures (T-BB). We find a linear relationship between H alpha luminosity and the R-BB (L-line proportional to R-BB) and potentially an inverse power-law relation with T-BB (L-line proportional to T-BB(-beta)), leading to weaker H alpha emission for T-BB >= 25 000 K. The He II/He I ratio becomes large at the same temperatures, possibly pointing to an ionization effect. The He II/H alpha ratio becomes larger as the photospheric radius recedes, implying a stratified photosphere where Helium lies deeper than Hydrogen. We suggest that the large diversity of the spectroscopic features seen in TDEs along with their X-ray properties can potentially be attributed to viewing angle effects.
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| 3. |
- Onori, F., et al.
(författare)
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The nuclear transient AT 2017gge : a tidal disruption event in a dusty and gas-rich environment and the awakening of a dormant SMBH
- 2022
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 517:1, s. 76-98
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the results from a dense multwavelength [optical/UV, near-infrared (IR), and X-ray] follow-up campaign of the nuclear transient AT 2017gge, covering a total of 1698 d from the transient's discovery. The bolometric light curve, the blackbody temperature and radius, the broad H and He i lambda 5876 emission lines and their evolution with time, are all consistent with a tidal disruption event (TDE) nature. A soft X-ray flare is detected with a delay of similar to 200 d with respect to the optical/UV peak and it is rapidly followed by the emergence of a broad He ii lambda 4686 and by a number of long-lasting high ionization coronal emission lines. This indicate a clear connection between a TDE flare and the appearance of extreme coronal line emission (ECLEs). An IR echo, resulting from dust re-radiation of the optical/UV TDE light is observed after the X-ray flare and the associated near-IR spectra show a transient broad feature in correspondence of the He i lambda 10830 and, for the first time in a TDE, a transient high-ionization coronal NIR line (the [Fe xiii] lambda 10798) is also detected. The data are well explained by a scenario in which a TDE occurs in a gas-and-dust rich environment and its optical/UV, soft X-ray, and IR emission have different origins and locations. The optical emission may be produced by stellar debris stream collisions prior to the accretion disc formation, which is instead responsible for the soft X-ray flare, emitted after the end of the circularization process.
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| 4. |
- Wevers, T., et al.
(författare)
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An elliptical accretion disk following the tidal disruption event AT 2020zso
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 666
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. The modelling of spectroscopic observations of tidal disruption events (TDEs) to date suggests that the newly formed accretion disks are mostly quasi-circular. In this work we study the transient event AT 2020zso, hosted by an active galactic nucleus (AGN; as inferred from narrow emission line diagnostics), with the aim of characterising the properties of its newly formed accretion flow.Methods. We classify AT 2020zso as a TDE based on the blackbody evolution inferred from UV/optical photometric observations and spectral line content and evolution. We identify transient, double-peaked Bowen (N III), He I, He II, and Hα emission lines. We model medium-resolution optical spectroscopy of the He II (after careful de-blending of the N III contribution) and Hα lines during the rise, peak, and early decline of the light curve using relativistic, elliptical accretion disk models.Results. We find that the spectral evolution before the peak can be explained by optical depth effects consistent with an outflowing, optically thick Eddington envelope. Around the peak, the envelope reaches its maximum extent (approximately 1015 cm, or ∼3000–6000 gravitational radii for an inferred black hole mass of 5−10 × 105 M⊙) and becomes optically thin. The Hα and He II emission lines at and after the peak can be reproduced with a highly inclined (i = 85 ± 5 degrees), highly elliptical (e = 0.97 ± 0.01), and relatively compact (Rin = several 100 Rg and Rout = several 1000 Rg) accretion disk.Conclusions. Overall, the line profiles suggest a highly elliptical geometry for the new accretion flow, consistent with theoretical expectations of newly formed TDE disks. We quantitatively confirm, for the first time, the high inclination nature of a Bowen (and X-ray dim) TDE, consistent with the unification picture of TDEs, where the inclination largely determines the observational appearance. Rapid line profile variations rule out the binary supermassive black hole hypothesis as the origin of the eccentricity; these results thus provide a direct link between a TDE in an AGN and the eccentric accretion disk. We illustrate for the first time how optical spectroscopy can be used to constrain the black hole spin, through (the lack of) disk precession signatures (changes in inferred inclination). We constrain the disk alignment timescale to > 15 days in AT2020zso, which rules out high black hole spin values (a < 0.8) for MBH ∼ 106 M⊙ and disk viscosity α ≳ 0.1.
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