Possible X-ray Quasi-Periodic Eruptions in a Tidal Disruption Event Candidate

Abstract

X-ray Quasi-Periodic Eruptions (QPEs) are a recently discovered phenomenon associated with supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. They are high amplitude soft X-ray flares that recur on timescales of hours, but what causes these flares remains uncertain. In the two years since their original discovery, four known QPE-hosting galaxies have been found, with varying properties and levels of activity. We have conducted a blind algorithm-assisted search of the XMM-Newton Source Catalog and found a fifth QPE candidate, XMMSL1 J024916.6-041244. This is a star-forming galaxy hosting a relatively low-mass nuclear black hole, and has previously been identified as a Tidal Disruption Event candidate. An XMM-Newton pointed observation of the source in 2006 exhibited nearly two QPE-like flares in soft X-rays, and, unlike in other QPE sources, there are hints of corresponding dips in the UV light curves. Afterwards, a series of Swift observations observed the rapid dimming of the source; thereafter, in August 2021, we triggered a second XMM-Newton observation, which revealed that the source is detected, but the QPEs are no longer present. Here we report on (I) the strategy we used to systematically search through XMM-Newton archival data; (II) the properties of J0249 and its QPE flares; and (III) the relative behaviors and properties of the QPE sample to date, now 5 members large.

11 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJL

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Interacting Stellar EMRIs as Sources of Quasi-Periodic Eruptions in Galactic Nuclei
• Repeating tidal disruptions in GSN 069: Long-term evolution and constraints on quasi-periodic eruptions' models
• Quasi-periodic eruptions from mildly eccentric unstable mass transfer in galactic nuclei
• Magnetically Dominated Disks in Tidal Disruption Events and Quasi-Periodic Eruptions
• Unstable Mass Transfer from a Main-Sequence Star to a Supermassive Black Hole and Quasi-Periodic Eruptions
• The complex time and energy evolution of quasi-periodic eruptions in eRO-QPE1
• Modified models of radiation pressure instability in application to 10, 10${}^5$, and 10${}^7$ $M_{\odot }$ accreting black holes
• A model for the possible connection between tidal disruption event and quasi-periodic eruption in GSN 069
• Evolution of a Relativistic Outflow and X-ray Corona in the Extreme Changing-Look AGN 1ES 1927+654
• Tidal Stripping of a White Dwarf by an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole
• Accretion disks, quasars and cosmology: meandering towards understanding
• Supersoft, luminous X-ray sources in galactic nuclei