PS1-13cbe: the rapid transition of a Seyfert 2 to a Seyfert 1

Journal Article · 05 June 2019 · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz1552 · OSTI ID:1528670

Katebi, Reza  ^[1]; Chornock, Ryan ^[1]; Berger, Edo ^[2]; Jones, David O. ^[3]; Lunnan, Ragnhild ^[4]; Margutti, Raffaella ^[5]; Rest, Armin ^[6]; Scolnic, Daniel M.  ^[7]; Burgett, William S. ^[8]; Kaiser, Nick ^[9]; Kudritzki, Rolf-Peter ^[10]; Magnier, Eugene A. ^[11]; Wainscoat, Richard J. ^[11]; Waters, Christopher ^[11]

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1. Astrophysical Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 251B Clippinger Lab, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
2. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
3. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
4. The Oskar Klein Centre and Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
5. Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
6. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
7. Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
8. GMTO Corp., 251 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
9. Ecole Normale Suprieure ENS, 24, rue Lhomond, Paris F-75005, France
10. University Observatory Munich, Scheinerstr. 1, D-81679 Munich, Germany, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
11. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA

ABSTRACT We present a nuclear transient event, PS1-13cbe, that was first discovered in the Pan-STARRS1 survey in 2013. The outburst occurred in the nucleus of the galaxy SDSS J222153.87+003054.2 at z = 0.123 55, which was classified as a Seyfert 2 in a pre-outburst archival Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectrum. PS1-13cbe showed the appearance of strong broad H α and H β emission lines and a non-stellar continuum in a Magellan spectrum taken 57 d after the peak of the outburst that resembled the characteristics of a Seyfert 1. These broad lines were not present in the SDSS spectrum taken a decade earlier and faded away within 2 yr, as observed in several late-time MDM spectra. We argue that the dramatic appearance and disappearance of the broad lines and a factor of ∼8 increase in the optical continuum are most likely caused by variability in the pre-existing accretion disc than a tidal disruption event, supernova, or variable obscuration. The time-scale for the turn-on of the optical emission of ∼70 d observed in this transient is among the shortest observed in a ‘changing-look’ active galactic nucleus.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 1528670
• Journal Information: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Journal Name: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 487; ISSN 0035-8711
• Publisher: Oxford University PressCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United Kingdom
• Language: English