Astronomers observe extraordinary tidal disruption event
Astronomers have discovered the first radio-bright tidal disruption event offset from the core of the galaxy. The radio signals from the event is the fastest evolving on record.
An international team of astronomers have spotted the first radio-bright tidal disruption event (TDE) offset from the centre of the galaxy. The event is designated as AT 2024tvd, and has resulted in the fastest-evolving radio signals ever observed from a TDE. TDEs are bright flares from supermassive black holes caused by a wayward star wandering too close to the black hole, and getting spaghettified because of the extreme tidal forces. Supermassive black holes occupying the cores of galaxies produce most of the TDEs, but they can also be caused by other black holes.
The discovery indicates that massive black holes can be lurking in unexpected locations throughout the universe. AT 2024tvd was discovered about 2,600 lightyears away from the core of the host galaxy. The event was tracked in detail using a network of radio telescopes that covered a wide range of wavelengths. The observations revealed exceptionally fast and unusual evolution for a tidal disruption event, with two bursts of radio waves being produced. Both the births increased in brightness and faded more rapidly than any known TDE. The second burst flared up and faded even faster than the first. The observations reveal an extraordinarily dynamic and short-lived event.
Autopsy of a dead star
A detailed analysis of the observations indicates that the rapid radio evolution was caused by one or perhaps two outflows launched significantly after the initial disruption of the star. The analysis indicates that these outflows were launched 80 and 170 days after the initial discovery of the event in optical frequencies. The observations challenge the conventional models of TDEs. The event also reveals the presence of a massive black hole that astronomers were not aware of. According to current theories, such black holes could result from interactions between three black holes, or be remnants of mergers between galaxies. Whenever something unique is discovered in space, it is invariably followed by a series of similar discoveries. This event is exciting to astronomers as it indicates that there may be more massive black holes waiting to be discovered.