Rapid onset of a Comptonisation zone in the repeating tidal disruption event XMMSL2 J140446.9-251135

We report here on observations of a tidal disruption event (TDE), XMMSL2 J1404-2511, discovered in an XMM-Newton slew, in a quiescent galaxy at z = 0.043. X-ray monitoring covered the epoch when the accretion disc transitioned from a thermal state, with kT ∼ 80 eV, to a harder state dominated by a warm, optically thick corona. The bulk of the coronal formation took place within 7 days and was coincident with a temporary drop in the emitted radiation by a factor 4. After a plateau phase of ∼100 days, the X-ray flux of XMMSL2 J1404-2511 decayed by a factor 500 within 230 days. We estimate the black hole mass in the galaxy to be M BH = 4 ± 2 × 10 6 M ⊙ and the peak X-ray luminosity L X ∼ 6 × 10 43 ergs s −1 . The optical/UV light curve is flat over the timescale of the observations with L opt ∼ 2 × 10 41 ergs s −1 . We find that TDEs with coronae are more often found in an X-ray sample than in an optically selected sample. Late-time monitoring of the optical sample is needed to test whether this is an intrinsic property of TDEs or is due to a selection effect. From the fast decay of the X-ray emission we consider that the event was likely due to the partial stripping of an evolved star rather than a full stellar disruption, an idea supported by the detection of two further re-brightening episodes, two and four years after the first event, in the SRG/eROSITA all-sky survey.

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Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Published
2025-10-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202554193
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
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article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.15

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article

Rapid onset of a Comptonisation zone in the repeating tidal disruption event XMMSL2 J140446.9-251135

Sjoert van Velzen, G. Miniutti, M. Giustini, R. Massey et al.
1 citations
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
1.15
article

Rapid onset of a Comptonisation zone in the repeating tidal disruption event XMMSL2 J140446.9-251135

Sjoert van Velzen, G. Miniutti, M. Giustini, R. Massey, P. G. Jonker, F. Fuerst, K. D. Alexander, Andrew Mummery, T. Wevers, A. Rau, R. D. Saxton, Dongyang Li, J.E. Kajava, A. M. Read
article en
1 citations

Abstract

We report here on observations of a tidal disruption event (TDE), XMMSL2 J1404-2511, discovered in an XMM-Newton slew, in a quiescent galaxy at z = 0.043. X-ray monitoring covered the epoch when the accretion disc transitioned from a thermal state, with kT ∼ 80 eV, to a harder state dominated by a warm, optically thick corona. The bulk of the coronal formation took place within 7 days and was coincident with a temporary drop in the emitted radiation by a factor 4. After a plateau phase of ∼100 days, the X-ray flux of XMMSL2 J1404-2511 decayed by a factor 500 within 230 days. We estimate the black hole mass in the galaxy to be M BH = 4 ± 2 × 10 6 M ⊙ and the peak X-ray luminosity L X ∼ 6 × 10 43 ergs s −1 . The optical/UV light curve is flat over the timescale of the observations with L opt ∼ 2 × 10 41 ergs s −1 . We find that TDEs with coronae are more often found in an X-ray sample than in an optically selected sample. Late-time monitoring of the optical sample is needed to test whether this is an intrinsic property of TDEs or is due to a selection effect. From the fast decay of the X-ray emission we consider that the event was likely due to the partial stripping of an evolved star rather than a full stellar disruption, an idea supported by the detection of two further re-brightening episodes, two and four years after the first event, in the SRG/eROSITA all-sky survey.

Astronomy and AstrophysicsVol. 704
Leiden University (NL), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), University of Arizona (US), University of Hertfordshire (GB), Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), University of Leicester (GB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Serco (United Kingdom) (GB), University of Oxford (GB), Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (PT), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (DE), Enterprise Science and Computing (United States) (US), Centro de Astrobiología (ES), Engineering Science Analysis (United States) (US), National Astronomical Observatories (CN)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, California Institute of Technology, Space Telescope Science Institute, University of Leicester, European Commission, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Universität Hamburg, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, Russian Academy of Sciences, European Regional Development Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
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