When a star comes too close to a supermassive black hole, it can be torn apart by the immense tidal forces, leading to a phenomenon known as a Tidal Disruption Event (TDE). The shredded stellar material then falls into the black hole, emitting radiation from the innermost region of the accretion process, serving as a telltale sign of a TDE occurrence.
ASASSN-19bt is a TDE located at a redshift of 0.026 within the galaxy 2MASX J07001137-6602251. Discovered in January 2019 by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN), it stands out for its remarkably low X-ray luminosity compared to other optically-selected TDEs.
Following the identification of ASASSN-19bt, a team of astronomers led by Collin T. Christy from Steward Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, initiated a comprehensive monitoring campaign to delve deeper into the characteristics of this TDE. Utilizing cutting-edge instruments such as the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), and the MeerKAT radio telescopes, they aimed to unravel the mysteries surrounding this cosmic event.
“Our study presents the outcomes of our extensive radio and X-ray observations of the TDE ASASSN-19bt, conducted over a period of nearly four years following the optical flare onset,” the researchers detailed.
2024-04-30 03:51:02
Original post available at phys.org