Optically Overluminous Tidal Disruption Events: Outflow Properties and Implications for Extremely Relativistic Disruptions
Abstract Recent studies suggest that tidal disruption events (TDEs) with off-axis jets may manifest as optically overluminous events. To search for jet signatures at late times, we conducted radio observations of eight such optically overluminous ( M g ,peak < −20.8 mag) TDEs with the Very Large Array. We detect radio counterparts in four events. The observed radio luminosities ( L 6 GHz ∼ 10 38 –10 39 erg s −1 ) are two orders of magnitude lower than those of on-axis jetted TDEs, and we find no evidence for off-axis jets within a rest-frame time of 3 yr. Two of them (AT2022hvp and AT2021aeou) exhibit evolving radio emission, consistent with synchrotron emission from non-relativistic outflows launched near the time of first optical light. Two events (AT2020ysg and AT2020qhs) show no statistically significant variability, which can be attributed to either non-relativistic outflows or pre-existing active galactic nuclei. Compared to a control sample of fainter TDEs with M g ,peak > −20.5 mag observed at similar rest-frame timescales ( t rest ∼ 1.5 yr), our sample shows systematically more luminous radio emission, suggesting that optically overluminous TDEs may launch more powerful prompt non-relativistic outflows. We speculate that strong general relativistic effects near high-mass black holes ( M BH ∼ 10 8 M ⊙ ) may play a key role. These findings motivate further investigation into the nature of relativistic disruptions around massive black holes and the physical conditions necessary for jet formation.
Authors
- Erica Hammerstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5698-8703)
- Reed Riddle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0387-370X)
- Vikram Ravi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7252-5485)
- Jean J. Somalwar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8426-5732)
- A. Mahabal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2242-0244)
- Sjoert van Velzen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3859-8074)
- Collin T. Christy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0528-202X)
- K. D. Alexander (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8297-2473)
- Yuhan Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6747-8509)
- M. J. Graham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3168-0139)
- Wenbin Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1568-7461)
- Russ R. Laher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2451-5482)
- S. R. Kulkarni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5390-8563)
- D. A. Perley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8472-1996)
- R. Chornock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7706-5668)
- J. S. Bloom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7777-216X)
- G. Hélou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3367-3415)
- J. C. A. Miller‐Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3124-2814)
- Paz Beniamini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7833-1043)
- J. Neveu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6966-5946)
- Steven L. Groom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5668-3507)
- R. Margutti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4768-7586)
- Roger M. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7062-9726)
- M. M. Kasliwal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5619-4938)
- Nayana A.J.
Institutions
- Laboratoire de Physique des 2 Infinis Irène Joliot-Curie (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Published
- 2025-11-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae08b3
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.31