Hello Darkness My Old Friend: The Fading of the Nearby TDE ASASSN-14ae

Abstract

We present late-time optical spectroscopy taken with the Large Binocular Telescope's Multi-Object Double Spectrograph, an improved ASAS-SN pre-discovery non-detection, and late-time SWIFT observations of the nearby ($d=193$ Mpc, $z=0.0436$) tidal disruption event (TDE) ASASSN-14ae. Our observations span from $\sim$20 days before to $\sim$750 days after discovery. The proximity of ASASSN-14ae allows us to study the optical evolution of the flare and the transition to a host dominated state with exceptionally high precision. We measure very weak H$\alpha$ emission 300 days after discovery ($L_{\mathrm{H}\alpha }\simeq 4\times 10^{39}$ ergs s${}^{-1}$) and the most stringent upper limit to date on the H$\alpha$ luminosity $\sim$750 days after discovery ($L_{\mathrm{H}\alpha }\lesssim 10^{39}$ ergs s${}^{-1}$), suggesting that the optical emission arising from a TDE can vanish on a timescale as short as 1 year. Our results have important implications for both spectroscopic detection of TDE candidates at late times, as well as the nature of TDE host galaxies themselves.

9 pages, 5 figures, published in MNRAS. For a brief video see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE_22inwynM

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Cited by in corpus (31)

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• Discovery and Follow-up of ASASSN-19dj: An X-ray and UV Luminous TDE in an Extreme Post-Starburst Galaxy
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• Double-Peaked Balmer Emission Indicating Prompt Accretion Disk Formation in an X-Ray Faint Tidal Disruption Event
• The Long Term Evolution of ASASSN-14li
• To TDE or not to TDE: The luminous transient ASASSN-18jd with TDE-like and AGN-like qualities
• The Post-Starburst Evolution of Tidal Disruption Event Host Galaxies
• The Rise and Fall of ASASSN-18pg: Following a TDE from Early To Late Times
• The Unusual Late-Time Evolution of the Tidal Disruption Event ASASSN-15oi
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• The ASAS-SN Bright Supernova Catalog $-$ II. 2015
• The Unexpected, Long-Lasting, UV Rebrightening of the Super-Luminous Supernova ASASSN-15lh
• MUSE Reveals a Recent Merger in the Post-starburst Host Galaxy of the TDE ASASSN-14li
• Discovery of A Mg II Changing-look AGN and its Implications for a Unification Sequence of Changing-look AGNs
• The ASAS-SN Bright Supernova Catalog -- IV. 2017
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• The Relative Specific Type Ia Supernovae Rate From Three Years of ASAS-SN
• The Rapid X-ray and UV Evolution of ASASSN-14ko
• Examining a Peak-Luminosity/Decline-Rate Relationship for Tidal Disruption Events
• Tidal Disruptions of Main Sequence Stars of Varying Mass and Age: Inferences from the Composition of the Fallback Material
• From X-rays to physical parameters: a comprehensive analysis of thermal tidal disruption event X-ray spectra
• Chandra, HST/STIS, NICER, Swift, and TESS Detail the Flare Evolution of the Repeating Nuclear Transient ASASSN-14ko
• Tidal disruption event discs are larger than they seem: removing systematic biases in TDE X-ray spectral modelling
• Discovery and Follow-up of ASASSN-23bd (AT 2023clx): The Lowest Redshift and Least Luminous Tidal Disruption Event To Date
• A Candidate Tidal Disruption Event in a Quasar at z=2.359 from Abundance Ratio Variability