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A dust-enshrouded tidal disruption event with a resolved radio jet in a galaxy merger
Author(s)
Mattila, Seppo S.
Pérez-Torres, M. A.
Mimica, Petar
Fraser, Morgan
Kankare, Erkki
Alberdi, A.
Aloy, Miguel Ángel
Heikkilä, T.
Jonker, Peter G.
Lundqvist, Peter
Marti-Vidal, Ivan
Meikle, W. P.S.
Romero-Cañizales, Cristina
Smartt, Stephen J.
Tsygankov, Sergey S.
Varenius, Eskil
Alonso-Herrero, Almudena
Bondi, Marco
Fransson, Claes
Herrero-Illana, Rubén
Kangas, Tuomas
Kotak, Rubina
Ramírez-Olivencia, N.
Väisänen, Petri H.
Beswick, Robert J.
Clements, David L.
Greimel, Robert
Harmanen, Jussi
Kotilainen, Jari K.
Nandra, Kirpaul P.
Reynolds, Thomas M.
Ryder, Stuart D.
Walton, Nicholas A.
Wiik, Kaj J.
Abstract
Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are transient flares produced when a star is ripped apart by the gravitational field of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We have observed a transient source in the western nucleus of the merging galaxy pair Arp 299 that radiated >1.5 × 1052 erg at infrared and radio wavelengths but was not luminous at optical or x-ray wavelengths. We interpret this as a TDE with much of its emission reradiated at infrared wavelengths by dust. Efficient reprocessing by dense gas and dust may explain the difference between theoretical predictions and observed luminosities of TDEs. The radio observations resolve an expanding and decelerating jet, probing the jet formation and evolution around a SMBH.
Part Of
Science
Issue
6401
Volume
361
Date Issued
2018-08-03
Open Access
No
DOI
10.1126/science.aao4669
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