X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are very-high-amplitude bursts of X-ray radiation recurring every few hours and originating near the central supermassive black holes of galactic nuclei<jats:sup>1,2</jats:sup>. It is currently unk...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Language: | English |
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Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/141983 |
| _version_ | 1826212673572831232 |
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| author | Arcodia, R Merloni, A Nandra, K Buchner, J Salvato, M Pasham, D Remillard, R Comparat, J Lamer, G Ponti, G Malyali, A Wolf, J Arzoumanian, Z Bogensberger, D Buckley, DAH Gendreau, K Gromadzki, M Kara, E Krumpe, M Markwardt, C Ramos-Ceja, ME Rau, A Schramm, M Schwope, A |
| author2 | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research |
| author_facet | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Arcodia, R Merloni, A Nandra, K Buchner, J Salvato, M Pasham, D Remillard, R Comparat, J Lamer, G Ponti, G Malyali, A Wolf, J Arzoumanian, Z Bogensberger, D Buckley, DAH Gendreau, K Gromadzki, M Kara, E Krumpe, M Markwardt, C Ramos-Ceja, ME Rau, A Schramm, M Schwope, A |
| author_sort | Arcodia, R |
| collection | MIT |
| description | <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are very-high-amplitude bursts of X-ray radiation recurring every few hours and originating near the central supermassive black holes of galactic nuclei<jats:sup>1,2</jats:sup>. It is currently unknown what triggers these events, how long they last and how they are connected to the physical properties of the inner accretion flows. Previously, only two such sources were known, found either serendipitously or in archival data<jats:sup>1,2</jats:sup>, with emission lines in their optical spectra classifying their nuclei as hosting an actively accreting supermassive black hole<jats:sup>3,4</jats:sup>. Here we report observations of QPEs in two further galaxies, obtained with a blind and systematic search of half of the X-ray sky. The optical spectra of these galaxies show no signature of black hole activity, indicating that a pre-existing accretion flow that is typical of active galactic nuclei is not required to trigger these events. Indeed, the periods, amplitudes and profiles of the QPEs reported here are inconsistent with current models that invoke radiation-pressure-driven instabilities in the accretion disk<jats:sup>5–9</jats:sup>. Instead, QPEs might be driven by an orbiting compact object. Furthermore, their observed properties require the mass of the secondary object to be much smaller than that of the main body<jats:sup>10</jats:sup>, and future X-ray observations may constrain possible changes in their period owing to orbital evolution. This model could make QPEs a viable candidate for the electromagnetic counterparts of so-called extreme-mass-ratio inspirals<jats:sup>11–13</jats:sup>, with considerable implications for multi-messenger astrophysics and cosmology<jats:sup>14,15</jats:sup>.</jats:p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:32:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/141983 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:32:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1419832023-08-07T18:19:44Z X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies Arcodia, R Merloni, A Nandra, K Buchner, J Salvato, M Pasham, D Remillard, R Comparat, J Lamer, G Ponti, G Malyali, A Wolf, J Arzoumanian, Z Bogensberger, D Buckley, DAH Gendreau, K Gromadzki, M Kara, E Krumpe, M Markwardt, C Ramos-Ceja, ME Rau, A Schramm, M Schwope, A MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are very-high-amplitude bursts of X-ray radiation recurring every few hours and originating near the central supermassive black holes of galactic nuclei<jats:sup>1,2</jats:sup>. It is currently unknown what triggers these events, how long they last and how they are connected to the physical properties of the inner accretion flows. Previously, only two such sources were known, found either serendipitously or in archival data<jats:sup>1,2</jats:sup>, with emission lines in their optical spectra classifying their nuclei as hosting an actively accreting supermassive black hole<jats:sup>3,4</jats:sup>. Here we report observations of QPEs in two further galaxies, obtained with a blind and systematic search of half of the X-ray sky. The optical spectra of these galaxies show no signature of black hole activity, indicating that a pre-existing accretion flow that is typical of active galactic nuclei is not required to trigger these events. Indeed, the periods, amplitudes and profiles of the QPEs reported here are inconsistent with current models that invoke radiation-pressure-driven instabilities in the accretion disk<jats:sup>5–9</jats:sup>. Instead, QPEs might be driven by an orbiting compact object. Furthermore, their observed properties require the mass of the secondary object to be much smaller than that of the main body<jats:sup>10</jats:sup>, and future X-ray observations may constrain possible changes in their period owing to orbital evolution. This model could make QPEs a viable candidate for the electromagnetic counterparts of so-called extreme-mass-ratio inspirals<jats:sup>11–13</jats:sup>, with considerable implications for multi-messenger astrophysics and cosmology<jats:sup>14,15</jats:sup>.</jats:p> 2022-04-20T16:41:31Z 2022-04-20T16:41:31Z 2021 2022-04-20T16:34:42Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/141983 Arcodia, R, Merloni, A, Nandra, K, Buchner, J, Salvato, M et al. 2021. "X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies." Nature, 592 (7856). en 10.1038/S41586-021-03394-6 Nature Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Springer Science and Business Media LLC Nature |
| spellingShingle | Arcodia, R Merloni, A Nandra, K Buchner, J Salvato, M Pasham, D Remillard, R Comparat, J Lamer, G Ponti, G Malyali, A Wolf, J Arzoumanian, Z Bogensberger, D Buckley, DAH Gendreau, K Gromadzki, M Kara, E Krumpe, M Markwardt, C Ramos-Ceja, ME Rau, A Schramm, M Schwope, A X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies |
| title | X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies |
| title_full | X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies |
| title_fullStr | X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies |
| title_full_unstemmed | X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies |
| title_short | X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies |
| title_sort | x ray quasi periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/141983 |
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