Unusual Hard X-ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303
| Autor: | Masterson, M, Kara, E, Pasham, DR, D’Orazio, DJ, Walton, DJ, Fabian, AC, Lucchini, M, Remillard, RA, Arzoumanian, Z, Burkhonov, O, Choi, H, Ehgamberdiev, SA, Ferrara, EC, Guolo, M, Im, M, Kim, Y, Mirzaqulov, DO, Paek, GSH, Sung, HI, Yoon, JN |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Masterson, M [0000-0003-4127-0739], Kara, E [0000-0003-0172-0854], Pasham, DR [0000-0003-1386-7861], D’Orazio, DJ [0000-0002-1271-6247], Walton, DJ [0000-0001-5819-3552], Fabian, AC [0000-0002-9378-4072], Lucchini, M [0000-0002-2235-3347], Remillard, RA [0000-0003-4815-0481], Burkhonov, O [0000-0003-1169-6763], Choi, H [0000-0003-4422-6426], Ehgamberdiev, SA [0000-0001-9730-3769], Ferrara, EC [0000-0001-7828-7708], Guolo, M [0000-0002-5063-0751], Im, M [0000-0002-8537-6714], Kim, Y [0000-0002-9532-1653], Mirzaqulov, DO [0000-0003-0570-6531], Paek, GSH [0000-0002-6639-6533], Sung, HI [0000-0001-9515-3584], Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2023 |
| Předmět: |
LIGHT CURVES
XMM-NEWTON High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) SWIFT TIDAL DISRUPTION NUSTAR FOS: Physical sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS DUAL AGNS SYSTEMATIC SEARCH VARIABILITY 5101 Astronomical Sciences Space and Planetary Science QUASI-PERIODIC ERUPTIONS Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 51 Physical Sciences |
| Zdroj: | Masterson, M, Kara, E, Pasham, D R, D'Orazio, D J, Walton, D J, Fabian, A C, Lucchini, M, Remillard, R A, Arzoumanian, Z, Burkhonov, O, Choi, H, Ehgamberdiev, S A, Ferrara, E C, Guolo, M, Im, M, Kim, Y, Mirzaqulov, D O, Paek, G S H, Sung, H-I & Yoon, J-N 2023, ' Unusual Hard X-Ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303 ', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 945, no. 2, 34 . https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acbea9 |
| DOI: | 10.3847/2041-8213/acbea9 |
| Popis: | The nuclear transient AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303 has been suggested to harbor a supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary near coalescence. We report results from high-cadence NICER X-ray monitoring with multiple visits per day from January-August 2022, as well as continued optical monitoring during the same time period. We find no evidence of periodic/quasi-periodic modulation in the X-ray, UV, or optical bands, however we do observe exotic hard X-ray variability that is unusual for a typical AGN. The most striking feature of the NICER light curve is repetitive hard (2-4 keV) X-ray flares that result in distinctly harder X-ray spectra compared to the non-flaring data. In its non-flaring state, AT2019cuk looks like a relatively standard AGN, but it presents the first case of day-long, hard X-ray flares in a changing-look AGN. We consider a few different models for the driving mechanism of these hard X-ray flares, including: (1) corona/jet variability driven by increased magnetic activity, (2) variable obscuration, and (3) self-lensing from the potential secondary SMBH. We prefer the variable corona model, as the obscuration model requires rather contrived timescales and the self-lensing model is difficult to reconcile with a lack of clear periodicity in the flares. These findings illustrate how important high-cadence X-ray monitoring is to our understanding of the rapid variability of the X-ray corona and necessitate further high-cadence, multi-wavelength monitoring of changing-look AGN like AT2019cuk to probe the corona-jet connection. 23 pages, 13 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJL |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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