TY - JOUR
T1 - X-Ray Quasi-periodic Eruptions and Tidal Disruption Events Prefer Similar Host Galaxies
AU - Wevers, T.
AU - French, K. D.
AU - Zabludoff, A. I.
AU - Fischer, T. C.
AU - Rowlands, K.
AU - Guolo, M.
AU - Dalla Barba, B.
AU - Arcodia, R.
AU - Berton, M.
AU - Bian, F.
AU - Linial, I.
AU - Miniutti, G.
AU - Pasham, D. R.
N1 - We are grateful to D. Kakkad, W. Lu, and S. van Velzen for discussions and suggestions; to M. Giustini for providing a recent quiescent luminosity estimate of RX J1301; and to J. Depasquale for creating the composite color images in Figure 1. We thank the reviewer for a thoughtful and constructive report that improved the clarity of the manuscript. K.D.F. acknowledges support from NSF grant AAG 22-06164. G.M. was supported by grant PID2020-115325GB-C31 funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. A.I.Z. acknowledges support from NASA ADAP grant 80NSSC21K0988. I.L. acknowledges support from a Rothschild Fellowship and the Gruber Foundation. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory under ESO programs 109.238W.007, 111.24UJ.005, and 113.26F6.001. This research was supported in part by grant NSF PHY-2309135 to the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP). We thank the organizers of the KITP program \u201CToward a Physical Understanding of Tidal Disruption Events,\u201D where part of this work was performed.
We are grateful to D. Kakkad, W. Lu, and S. van Velzen for discussions and suggestions; to M. Giustini for providing a recent quiescent luminosity estimate of RX J1301; and to J. Depasquale for creating the composite color images in Figure . We thank the reviewer for a thoughtful and constructive report that improved the clarity of the manuscript. K.D.F. acknowledges support from NSF grant AAG 22-06164. G.M. was supported by grant PID2020-115325GB-C31 funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. A.I.Z. acknowledges support from NASA ADAP grant 80NSSC21K0988. I.L. acknowledges support from a Rothschild Fellowship and the Gruber Foundation. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory under ESO programs 109.238W.007, 111.24UJ.005, and 113.26F6.001. This research was supported in part by grant NSF PHY-2309135 to the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP). We thank the organizers of the KITP program \u201CToward a Physical Understanding of Tidal Disruption Events,\u201D where part of this work was performed.
PY - 2024/7/1
Y1 - 2024/7/1
N2 - In the past 5 yr, six X-ray quasi-periodic eruption (QPE) sources have been discovered in the nuclei of nearby galaxies. Their origin remains an open question. We present Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer integral field spectroscopy of five QPE host galaxies to characterize their properties. We find that 3/5 galaxies host extended emission-line regions (EELRs) up to 10 kpc in size. The EELRs are photoionized by a nonstellar continuum, but the current nuclear luminosity is insufficient to power the observed emission lines. The EELRs are decoupled from the stars both kinematically and in projected sky position, and the low velocities and velocity dispersions (<100 km s−1 and ≲75 km s−1, respectively) are inconsistent with being driven by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) or shocks. The origin of the EELRs is likely a previous phase of nuclear activity. QPE host galaxies share several similarities with tidal disruption event (TDE) hosts, including an overrepresentation of galaxies with strong Balmer absorption and little ongoing star formation, as well as a preference for a short-lived (the typical EELR lifetime is ∼15,000 yr), gas-rich phase where the nucleus has recently faded significantly. This suggests that QPEs and TDEs may share a common formation channel, disfavoring AGN accretion disk instabilities as the origin of QPEs. If QPEs are related to extreme mass ratio inspiral systems (EMRIs), e.g., stellar-mass objects on bound orbits about massive black holes, the high incidence of EELRs and recently faded nuclei could be used to localize the hosts of EMRIs discovered by low-frequency gravitational-wave observatories.
AB - In the past 5 yr, six X-ray quasi-periodic eruption (QPE) sources have been discovered in the nuclei of nearby galaxies. Their origin remains an open question. We present Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer integral field spectroscopy of five QPE host galaxies to characterize their properties. We find that 3/5 galaxies host extended emission-line regions (EELRs) up to 10 kpc in size. The EELRs are photoionized by a nonstellar continuum, but the current nuclear luminosity is insufficient to power the observed emission lines. The EELRs are decoupled from the stars both kinematically and in projected sky position, and the low velocities and velocity dispersions (<100 km s−1 and ≲75 km s−1, respectively) are inconsistent with being driven by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) or shocks. The origin of the EELRs is likely a previous phase of nuclear activity. QPE host galaxies share several similarities with tidal disruption event (TDE) hosts, including an overrepresentation of galaxies with strong Balmer absorption and little ongoing star formation, as well as a preference for a short-lived (the typical EELR lifetime is ∼15,000 yr), gas-rich phase where the nucleus has recently faded significantly. This suggests that QPEs and TDEs may share a common formation channel, disfavoring AGN accretion disk instabilities as the origin of QPEs. If QPEs are related to extreme mass ratio inspiral systems (EMRIs), e.g., stellar-mass objects on bound orbits about massive black holes, the high incidence of EELRs and recently faded nuclei could be used to localize the hosts of EMRIs discovered by low-frequency gravitational-wave observatories.
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U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/ad5f1b
DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/ad5f1b
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85199563979
SN - 2041-8205
VL - 970
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 1
M1 - L23
ER -