PS1-10jh CONTINUES TO FOLLOW THE FALLBACK ACCRETION RATE OF A TIDALLY DISRUPTED STAR
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, Stadium Drive, College Park, MD 20742-2421 (United States)
- Astrophysical Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 251B Clippinger Lab, Ohio University Athens, OH 45701 (United States)
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom)
- Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
We present late-time observations of the tidal disruption event candidate PS1-10jh. UV and optical imaging with Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 localize the transient to be coincident with the host galaxy nucleus to an accuracy of 0.023 arcsec, corresponding to 66 pc. The UV flux in the F225W filter, measured 3.35 rest-frame years after the peak of the nuclear flare, is consistent with a decline that continues to follow a t{sup −5/3} power-law with no spectral evolution. Late epochs of optical spectroscopy obtained with MMT ∼ 2 and 4 years after the peak, enable a clean subtraction of the host galaxy from the early spectra, revealing broad helium emission lines on top of a hot continuum, and placing stringent upper limits on the presence of hydrogen line emission. We do not measure Balmer Hδ absorption in the host galaxy that is strong enough to be indicative of a rare, post-starburst “E+A” galaxy as reported by Arcavi et al. The light curve of PS1-10jh over a baseline of 3.5 years is best modeled by fallback accretion of a tidally disrupted star. Its strong broad helium emission relative to hydrogen (He iiλ4686/Hα > 5) could be indicative of either the hydrogen-poor chemical composition of the disrupted star, or certain conditions in the tidal debris of a solar-composition star in the presence of an optically thick, extended reprocessing envelope.
- OSTI ID:
- 22518664
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 815, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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