Quasi-periodic X-ray eruptions years after a nearby tidal disruption event

Nicholl, M and Pasham, D R and Mummery, A and Guolo, M and Gendreau, K and Dewangan, G C and Ferrara, E C and Remillard, R and Bonnerot, C and Chakraborty, J and Hajela, A and Dhillon, V S and Gillan, A F and Greenwood, J and Huber, M E and Janiuk, A and Salvesen, G and van Velzen, S and Aamer, A and Alexander, K D and Angus, C R and Arzoumanian, Z and Auchettl, K and Berger, E and de Boer, T and Cendes, Y and Chambers, K C and Chen, T-W and Chornock, R and Fulton, M D and Gao, H and Gillanders, J H and Gomez, S and Gompertz, B P and Fabian, A C and Herman, J and Ingram, A and Kara, E and Laskar, T and Lawrence, A and Lin, C-C and Lowe, T B and Magnier, E A and Margutti, R and McGee, S L and Minguez, P and Moore, T and Nathan, E and Oates, S R and Patra, K C and Ramsden, P and Ravi, V and Ridley, E J and Sheng, X and Smartt, S J and Smith, K W and Srivastav, S and Stein, R and Stevance, H F and Turner, S G D and Wainscoat, R J and Weston, J and Wevers, T and Young, D R (2024) Quasi-periodic X-ray eruptions years after a nearby tidal disruption event. Nature. ISSN 0028-0836

Abstract

Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are luminous bursts of soft X-rays from the nuclei of galaxies, repeating on timescales of hours to weeks . The mechanism behind these rare systems is uncertain, but most theories involve accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) undergoing instabilities or interacting with a stellar object in a close orbit . It has been suggested that this disk could be created when the SMBH disrupts a passing star , implying that many QPEs should be preceded by observable tidal disruption events (TDEs). Two known QPE sources show long-term decays in quiescent luminosity consistent with TDEs and two observed TDEs have exhibited X-ray flares consistent with individual eruptions . TDEs and QPEs also occur preferentially in similar galaxies . However, no confirmed repeating QPEs have been associated with a spectroscopically confirmed TDE or an optical TDE observed at peak brightness. Here we report the detection of nine X-ray QPEs with a mean recurrence time of approximately 48 h from AT2019qiz, a nearby and extensively studied optically selected TDE . We detect and model the X-ray, ultraviolet (UV) and optical emission from the accretion disk and show that an orbiting body colliding with this disk provides a plausible explanation for the QPEs. [Abstract copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).]