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Session: Extragalactic Astronomy and Astrophysics

Name: Dr. Christos Panagiotou (MIT)
Coauthors: De Kishalay (MIT)
Masterson Megan (MIT)
Kara Erin (MIT)
Calzadilla Michael (MIT)
Eilers Anna-Christina (MIT)
Frostig Danielle (MIT)
Karambelkar Viraj (Caltech)
Kasliwal Mansi (Caltech)
Lourie Nathan (MIT)
Meisner Aaron (NOIRLAB)
Simcoe Robert (MIT)
Stein Robert (Caltech)
Zolkower Jeffry (Caltech)
Type: Poster
Title: A luminous dust-obscured Tidal Disruption Event candidate in a star forming galaxy at 42 Mpc
Abstract:

Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs) offer a unique opportunity to study the nature of dormant supermassive black holes and the physics of accretion. While the vast majority of TDEs to date has been identified by wide-field sky surveys in the optical and X-ray bands, recent studies indicate that a considerable fraction of TDEs may be dust obscured, and thus preferentially detected in the infrared (IR) wavebands. In this talk, I will present the discovery of a luminous mid-IR nuclear flare identified in a systematic transient search of archival images from the NEOWISE mid-IR survey. The transient event took place in the nearby galaxy NGC 7392, at a distance of around 42 Mpc; yet, no optical or X-ray flare was detected. We interpreted the transient as the nearest TDE detected in the last decade, which was missed at other wavelengths due to dust obscuration, hinting at the existence of a large population of TDEs that have been historically overlooked. Unlike most previously detected TDEs, the transient was discovered in a star forming galaxy, corroborating earlier suggestions that dust obscuration suppresses significantly the detection of TDEs in these environments. Moreover, ongoing analysis of the NEOWISE archive suggests that MIR-detected TDEs are very common, nearly doubling the number of detected TDEs in our cosmic backyard. Our results demonstrate that the study of IR-detected TDEs is critical in order to obtain a complete understanding of the physics of TDEs and to conclude whether TDEs occur preferentially in a particular class of galaxies.