A 200-s Quasi-Periodicity Following the Tidal Disruption of a Star by a Dormant Black Hole

Abstract

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs; $M\gtrsim10^5\msun$) are known to exist at the centre of most galaxies with sufficient stellar mass. In the local Universe, it is possible to infer their properties from the surrounding stars or gas. However, at high redshifts we require active, continuous accretion to infer the presence of the SMBHs, often coming in the form of long-term accretion in active galactic nuclei. SMBHs can also capture and tidally disrupt stars orbiting nearby, resulting in bright flares from otherwise quiescent black holes. Here, we report on a $\sim 200$-s X-ray quasi-periodicity around a previously dormant SMBH located in the centre of a galaxy at redshift $z=0.3534$. This result may open the possibility of probing general relativity beyond our local Universe.

arXiv commentPublished online 2 August 2012 10.1126/science.1223940

References in corpus (37)

• X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries
• The European Photon Imaging Camera on XMM-Newton: The MOS Cameras
• Methods and results of an automatic analysis of a complete sample of Swift-XRT observations of GRBs
• A fundamental plane of black hole activity
• General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Magnetically Choked Accretion Flows around Black Holes
• An online repository of Swift/XRT light curves of GRBs
• A Scheme to Unify Low-Power Accreting Black Holes - Jet-Dominated Accretion Flows and the Radio/X-Ray Correlation
• Active Galactic Nuclei as scaled-up Galactic black holes
• A relativistic jetted outburst from a massive black hole fed by a tidally disrupted star
• Discovery of the Onset of Rapid Accretion by a Dormant Massive Black Hole
• Connection Between Energy-dependent Lags And Peak Luminosity In Gamma-ray Bursts
• Optical Flares from the Tidal Disruption of Stars by Massive Black Holes
• An Explanation for the soft X-ray excess in AGN
• Measuring the broadband power spectra of active galactic nuclei with RXTE
• Correlations in the QPO Frequencies of Low Mass X-Ray Binaries and the Relativistic Precession Model
• Is the soft excess in AGN real?
• The Birth of a Relativistic Outflow in the Unusual γ-ray Transient Swift J164449.3+573451
• Swift J2058.4+0516: Discovery of a Possible Second Relativistic Tidal Disruption Flare?
• Correlations in Quasi-Periodic Oscillation and Noise Frequencies Among Neutron-Star and Black-Hole X-ray Binaries
• An extremely luminous panchromatic outburst from the nucleus of a distant galaxy
• Optical discovery of probable stellar tidal disruption flares
• UV/Optical Detections of Candidate Tidal Disruption Events by GALEX and CFHTLS
• Discovery of X-ray QPOs from an Ultra-luminous X-ray Source in M82: Evidence Against Beaming
• Are There Three Peaks in the Power Spectra of GX 339-4 and Cyg X-1?
• Ultraviolet Detection of the Tidal Disruption of a Star by a Supermassive Black Hole
• The Fundamental Plane of Accretion Onto Black Holes with Dynamical Masses
• A Bayesian test for periodic signals in red noise
• High- and low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-ray light curves of the black hole transient H1743-322
• Evidence for Frame-Dragging Around Spinning Black Holes in X-Ray Binaries
• Quasi-Periodic Variability in NGC 5408 X-1
• The 67 Hz Feature in the Black Hole Candidate GRS 1915+105 as a Possible ``Diskoseismic'' Mode
• High frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in the black hole X-ray transient XTE J1650-500
• Light Curves from an MHD Simulation of a Black Hole Accretion Disk
• Restoring the Suzaku Source Position Accuracy and Point-Spread Function
• Frame-dragging, disk warping, jet precessing, and dipped X-ray lightcurve of Sw J1644+57
• Searching for the trigger of the AGN QPO: 8 years of RE J1034+396
• X-ray and Radio Constraints on the Mass of the Black Hole in Swift J164449.3+573451

Cited by in corpus (78)

• Tidal Disruption Events
• Alignment of Magnetized Accretion Disks and Relativistic Jets with Spinning Black Holes
• Testing the No-Hair Theorem with Event Horizon Telescope Observations of Sagittarius A*
• Swift J1644+57 gone MAD: the case for dynamically-important magnetic flux threading the black hole in a jetted tidal disruption event
• On the size and location of the X-ray emitting coronae around black holes
• Evolution of Accretion Disks in Tidal Disruption Events
• Testing the No-Hair Theorem with Observations of Black Holes in the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• A Remarkably Loud Quasi-Periodicity after a Star is Disrupted by a Massive Black Hole
• Discovery of a ~2 hr high frequency X-ray QPO and iron K alpha reverberation in the active galaxy MS 2254.9-3712
• Relativistic reverberation in the accretion flow of a tidal disruption event
• Tormund's return: Hints of quasi-periodic eruption features from a recent optical tidal disruption event
• A ~3.8 hour Periodicity from an Ultrasoft Active Galactic Nucleus Candidate
• Detection of a possible X-ray Quasi-periodic Oscillation in the Active Galactic Nucleus 1H~0707-495
• Kepler observations of rapid optical variability in the BL Lac object W2R1926+42
• Detection of a QPO in 5 XMM-Newton observations of RE J1034+396
• The Impact of Bound Stellar Orbits and General Relativity on the Temporal Behavior of Tidal Disruption Flares
• Kink Instabilities In Relativistic Jets Can Drive Quasi-Periodic Radiation Signatures
• Tidal Disruption and Magnetic Flux Capture: Powering a Jet from a Quiescent Black Hole
• The Astrophysics of Resonant Orbits in the Kerr Metric
• Evidence for a Compact Object in the Aftermath of the Extra-Galactic Transient AT2018cow
• Reverberation in tidal disruption events: dust echoes, coronal emission lines, multi-wavelength cross-correlations, and QPOs
• Confrontation of Observation and Theory: High Frequency QPOs in X-ray Binaries, Tidal Disruption Events, and Active Galactic Nuclei
• Jets from Tidal Disruption Events
• The Physics of Accretion Discs, Winds And Jets in Tidal Disruption Events
• Testing the No-Hair Theorem with Observations of Black Holes in the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Evolution of a Relativistic Outflow and X-ray Corona in the Extreme Changing-Look AGN 1ES 1927+654
• Universal scaling of the 3:2 twin-peak quasi-periodic oscillation frequencies with black hole mass and spin revisited
• Deep Chandra Observations of the Compact Starburst Galaxy Henize 2-10: X-rays from the Massive Black Hole
• A deep X-ray view of the bare AGN Ark120. V. Spin determination from disc-Comptonisation efficiency method
• Quasi-Periodic Variations in X-ray Emission and Long-Term Radio Observations: Evidence for a Two-Component Jet in Sw J1644+57
• Two transient X-ray Quasi-Periodic Oscillations separated by an intermediate state in 1H 0707-495
• GRRMHD Simulations of MAD Accretion Disks Declining from Super-Eddington to Sub-Eddington Accretion Rates
• Re-observing the NLS1 Galaxy RE J1034+396. I. the Long-term, Recurrent X-ray QPO with a High Significance
• Evidence for an Optical Low-frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillation in the Kepler Light Curve of an Active Galaxy
• SWIFT J1910.2-0546: A possible black hole binary with a retrograde spin or truncated disk
• Timescale of twin-peak quasi-periodic oscillations and mass of accreting neutron stars
• XMMSL2 J144605.0+685735 : a slow tidal disruption event
• X-ray Structure between the Innermost Disk and Optical Broad Line Region in NGC 4151
• Possible ~0.4 hour X-ray quasi-periodicity from an ultrasoft active galactic nucleus
• Submillimeter Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in Magnetically Choked Accretion Flows Models of Sgr A*
• Lower-twin-peak quasiperiodic oscillation coherence in x-ray binaries and matter stretched by tides falling onto a compact object
• X-ray Probes of Black Hole Accretion Disks for Testing the No-Hair Theorem
• Upper-twin-peak quasiperiodic oscillation in x-ray binaries and the energy from tidal circularization of relativistic orbits
• A detailed X-ray investigation of PSR J2021+4026 and $\gamma$-Cygni supernova remnant
• Classification of X-ray Sources in the XMM-Newton Serendipitous Source Catalog: Objects of Special Interest
• Mass estimate of the Swift J 164449.3+573451 supermassive black hole based on the 3:2 QPO resonance hypothesis
• Tidal Disruption of Stars by Supermassive Black Holes -- XMM-Newton Highlights and the Next Decade
• A possible tidal disruption event candidate in the black hole binary system of OJ 287
• A possible 250-second X-ray quasi-periodicity in the fast blue optical transient AT2018cow
• Late-time X-ray Observations of the Jetted Tidal Disruption Event AT2022cmc: The Relativistic Jet Shuts Off
• Multiple accretion events as a trigger for Sgr A* activity
• Swift J164449.3+573451 and Swift J2058.4+0516: Black hole mass estimates for tidal disruption event sources
• Black Hole spin dependence of general relativistic multi-transonic accretion close to the horizon
• Twin peak quasi-periodic oscillations and the kinematics of orbital motion in a curved space-time
• Radio-X-ray Synergy to discover and Study Jetted Tidal Disruption Events
• Long-term X-ray emission from Swift J1644+57
• Searching for Quasi-periodic Oscillations in Active Galactic Nuclei of the Chandra Deep Field South
• Effect of accreting tidally disrupted stars on the spin evolution of $\sim 10^6{M}_{\odot }$ black holes
• Structured Jet Model for Multiwavelength Observations of the Jetted Tidal Disruption Event AT 2022cmc
• Unusual Hard X-ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303
• An 85-s X-ray quasi-periodicity after a stellar tidal disruption by a candidate intermediate-mass black hole
• Polarization of Astrophysical Events with Precessing Jets
• Revisiting X-ray Afterglows of Jetted Tidal Disruption Events with the External Reverse Shock
• A $\sim$100 mHz QPO in the X-ray emission from IGR J17361-4441
• Prospects for Time-Domain and Multi-Messenger Science with eXTP
• General Relativistic Radiation Magnetohydrodynamics Simulations of Precessing Tilted Super-Eddington Disks
• Jet Tilt Instability from Stream-Disk Interactions in MAD Disks
• A new Bowen Fluorescence Flare and Extreme Coronal Line Emitter discovered by SRG/eROSITA
• Evidences of an innermost stable bound orbit predicted by general relativity from the amplitude of the twin-peak quasi-periodic oscillations
• Long-term Evolution of the Short-term X-ray Variability of the Jetted TDE Swift J1644+57
• Modeling reflection spectra of super-Eddington X-ray sources
• Diverse Emission Patterns from Precessing Super-Eddington Disks Formed in Tidal Disruption Events
• Timing of accreting neutron stars with future X-ray instruments: towards new constraints on dense matter equation of state
• Distribution of orbital inclinations for tidal disruption events by Kerr black holes
• XMM-Newton
• Searching for Black Holes in Space - the key role of X-ray observations
• The Peculiar X-ray Transient Swift J0840.7-3516: an Unusual Low Mass X-ray Binary or a Tidal Disruption Event?
• X-ray Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in Active Galactic Nuclei and Their Implications for the Changing Look Phenomenon