Ultraviolet Detection of the Tidal Disruption of a Star by a Supermassive Black Hole
Ultraviolet Detection of the Tidal Disruption of a Star by a Supermassive Black Hole
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DOI：
10.1086/509918
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发表时间：
2006-12
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通讯作者：
S. Gezari;D. C. Martin;B. Milliard;S. Basa;J. Halpern;K. Forster;P. Friedman;P. Morrissey;S. Neff;D. Schiminovich;M. Seibert;T. Small;T. Wyder
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作者：
S. Gezari;D. C. Martin;B. Milliard;S. Basa;J. Halpern;K. Forster;P. Friedman;P. Morrissey;S. Neff;D. Schiminovich;M. Seibert;T. Small;T. Wyder
当一颗恒星距离足够近，足以被潮汐力撕裂，并且坠入黑洞的恒星碎片流发出耀斑辐射时，星系核中的超大质量黑洞就会显现出来。由于常见的活跃星系核具有吸积黑洞，也可以产生耀斑，因此令人信服地证明恒星潮汐破坏的发生通常始于没有任何先前核活动证据的“正常”星系。在这里，我们报告了来自 GALEX 深部成像巡天格罗斯场中 z = 0.37 的椭圆星系的发光紫外耀斑，从耀斑过程中获得的光谱和 X 射线成像来看，没有证据表明存在赛弗特核。在事件发生时以及事件发生后两年内收集的多波长数据使我们能够首次从光学到 X 射线限制候选潮汐破坏耀斑的光谱能量分布。辐射的光度和温度以及耀斑的衰变曲线与恒星潮汐破裂的理论预测非常吻合，并为迄今为止的恒星破裂事件提供了最有力的经验证据。
A supermassive black hole in the nucleus of a galaxy will be revealed when a star passes close enough to be torn apart by tidal forces and a flare of radiation is emitted by the stream of stellar debris that plunges into the black hole. Since common active galactic nuclei have accreting black holes that can also produce flares, a convincing demonstration that a stellar tidal disruption has occurred generally begins with a "normal" galaxy that has no evidence of prior nuclear activity. Here we report a luminous UV flare from an elliptical galaxy at z = 0.37 in the Groth field of the GALEX Deep Imaging Survey that has no evidence of a Seyfert nucleus from optical spectroscopy and X-ray imaging obtained during the flare. Multiwavelength data collected at the time of the event, and for 2 years following, allow us to constrain, for the first time, the spectral energy distribution of a candidate tidal disruption flare from optical through X-rays. The luminosity and temperature of the radiation and the decay curve of the flare are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions for the tidal disruption of a star, and provide the strongest empirical evidence for a stellar disruption event to date.