FIRST J153350.8+272729: The Radio Afterglow of a Decades-old Tidal Disruption Event

Ravi, Vikram; Dykaar, Hannah; Codd, Jackson; Zaccagnini, Ginevra; Dong, Dillon; Drout, Maria R.; Gaensler, Bryan M.; Hallinan, Gregg; Law, Casey

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac2b33

Title: FIRST J153350.8+272729: The Radio Afterglow of a Decades-old Tidal Disruption Event

Journal Article · 07 February 2022 · The Astrophysical Journal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac2b33 · OSTI ID:1983195

^[1]; Dykaar, Hannah ^[2];

^[3]; Zaccagnini, Ginevra ^[4]; Dong, Dillon ^[1];

^[5];

^[2];

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California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada)
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Cambridge, MA (United States); Macalester College, St. Paul, MN (United States)
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Cambridge, MA (United States)
Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada); Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA (United States)

We present the discovery of the fading radio transient FIRST J153350.8+272729. The source had a maximum observed 5 GHz radio luminosity of 8 × 10³⁹ erg s^–1 in 1986, but by 2019 had faded by a factor of nearly 400. It is located at the center of a galaxy (SDSS J153350.89+272729) at 147 Mpc, which shows weak Type II Seyfert activity. We show that a tidal disruption event (TDE) is the preferred scenario for FIRST J153350.8+272729, although it could plausibly be interpreted as the afterglow of a long-duration γ-ray burst. This is only the second TDE candidate to be first discovered at radio wavelengths. Its luminosity fills a gap between the radio afterglows of subrelativistic TDEs in the local universe, and relativistic TDEs at high redshifts. The unusual properties of FIRST J153350.8+272729 (ongoing nuclear activity in the host galaxy, high radio luminosity) motivate more extensive TDE searches in untargeted radio surveys.

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Research Organization:: US Department of Energy (USDOE), Washington, DC (United States). Office of Science, Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

OSTI ID:: 1983195

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 925; ISSN 0004-637X

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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