IGR J12580+0134: The first tidal disruption event with an off-beam relativistic jet

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2016

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal

Volume

816

Issue

1

Abstract

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) can capture and tidally disrupt stars or substellar objects orbiting nearby. The detections of Sw J1644+57-like events suggest that at least some TDEs can launch a relativistic jet beaming toward Earth. A natural expectation would be the existence of TDEs with a relativistic jet beaming away from Earth. The nearby TDE candidate IGR J12580+0134 provides new insights into the jet phenomenon. Combining several constraints, we find that the event invokes a 8?40 Jupiter mass object tidally disrupted by a 3 × 1051.8 107M⊙ SMBH. Recently, a bright radio transient was discovered by Irwin et al. in association with IGR J12580+0134. We perform detailed modeling of the event based on a numerical jet model previously developed for the radio emission of Sw J1644+57. We find that the radio data of IGR J12580+0134 can be interpreted within an external forward shock model in the Newtonian regime. Using Sw J1644+57 as a template and properly correcting for its luminosity, we argue that the observed X-ray flux in early times is too faint to allow an on-beam relativistic jet unless the Lorentz factor is very small. Rather, the X-ray emission is likely from the disk or corona near the black hole. From various constraints, we find that the data are consistent with an off-beam relativistic jet with a viewing angle of θobs ≳ 30°, and an initial Lorentz factor of Γj ≳ a few. This scenario can readily be tested in the upcoming very long baseline interferometry observations. © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Keywords

black hole physics; galaxies: individual (NGC 4845); galaxies: jets; X-rays: individual (IGR J12580+0134)

Language

English

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