Unusual Hard X-Ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Research › peer-review

Standard

Unusual Hard X-Ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303. / Masterson, Megan; Kara, Erin; Pasham, Dheeraj R.; D'Orazio, Daniel J.; Walton, Dominic J.; Fabian, Andrew C.; Lucchini, Matteo; Remillard, Ronald A.; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Burkhonov, Otabek; Choi, Hyeonho; Ehgamberdiev, Shuhrat A.; Ferrara, Elizabeth C.; Guolo, Muryel; Im, Myungshin; Kim, Yonggi; Mirzaqulov, Davron O.; Paek, Gregory S. H.; Sung, Hyun-Il; Yoon, Joh-Na.

In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 945, No. 2, 34, 01.03.2023.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Masterson, M, Kara, E, Pasham, DR, D'Orazio, DJ, Walton, DJ, Fabian, AC, Lucchini, M, Remillard, RA, Arzoumanian, Z, Burkhonov, O, Choi, H, Ehgamberdiev, SA, Ferrara, EC, Guolo, M, Im, M, Kim, Y, Mirzaqulov, DO, Paek, GSH, Sung, H-I & Yoon, J-N 2023, 'Unusual Hard X-Ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 945, no. 2, 34. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acbea9

APA

Masterson, M., Kara, E., Pasham, D. R., D'Orazio, D. J., Walton, D. J., Fabian, A. C., Lucchini, M., Remillard, R. A., Arzoumanian, Z., Burkhonov, O., Choi, H., Ehgamberdiev, S. A., Ferrara, E. C., Guolo, M., Im, M., Kim, Y., Mirzaqulov, D. O., Paek, G. S. H., Sung, H-I., & Yoon, J-N. (2023). Unusual Hard X-Ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 945(2), [34]. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acbea9

Vancouver

Masterson M, Kara E, Pasham DR, D'Orazio DJ, Walton DJ, Fabian AC et al. Unusual Hard X-Ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303. Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2023 Mar 1;945(2). 34. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acbea9

Author

Masterson, Megan ; Kara, Erin ; Pasham, Dheeraj R. ; D'Orazio, Daniel J. ; Walton, Dominic J. ; Fabian, Andrew C. ; Lucchini, Matteo ; Remillard, Ronald A. ; Arzoumanian, Zaven ; Burkhonov, Otabek ; Choi, Hyeonho ; Ehgamberdiev, Shuhrat A. ; Ferrara, Elizabeth C. ; Guolo, Muryel ; Im, Myungshin ; Kim, Yonggi ; Mirzaqulov, Davron O. ; Paek, Gregory S. H. ; Sung, Hyun-Il ; Yoon, Joh-Na. / Unusual Hard X-Ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303. In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2023 ; Vol. 945, No. 2.

Bibtex

@article{3aec3a392db04099b568c5ac860589b5,
title = "Unusual Hard X-Ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303",
abstract = "The nuclear transient AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303 has been suggested to harbor a supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary near coalescence. We report results from high-cadence NICER X-ray monitoring with multiple visits per day from 2022 January to August, as well as continued optical monitoring during the same time period. We find no evidence of periodic/quasiperiodic modulation in the X-ray, UV, or optical bands; however, we do observe exotic hard X-ray variability that is unusual for typical active galactic nuclei (AGN). The most striking feature of the NICER light curve is repetitive hard (2-4 keV) X-ray flares that result in distinctly harder X-ray spectra compared to the nonflaring data. In its nonflaring state, AT2019cuk looks like a relatively standard AGN, but it presents the first case of day-long, hard X-ray flares in a changing-look AGN. We consider a few different models for the driving mechanism of these hard X-ray flares, including (1) corona/jet variability driven by increased magnetic activity, (2) variable obscuration, and (3) self-lensing from the potential secondary SMBH. We prefer the variable corona model, as the obscuration model requires rather contrived timescales and the self-lensing model is difficult to reconcile with a lack of clear periodicity in the flares. These findings illustrate how important high-cadence X-ray monitoring is to our understanding of the rapid variability of the X-ray corona and necessitate further high-cadence, multiwavelength monitoring of changing-look AGN like AT2019cuk to probe the corona-jet connection.",
keywords = "ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS, QUASI-PERIODIC ERUPTIONS, TIDAL DISRUPTION, SYSTEMATIC SEARCH, LIGHT CURVES, XMM-NEWTON, DUAL AGNS, NUSTAR, SWIFT, VARIABILITY",
author = "Megan Masterson and Erin Kara and Pasham, {Dheeraj R.} and D'Orazio, {Daniel J.} and Walton, {Dominic J.} and Fabian, {Andrew C.} and Matteo Lucchini and Remillard, {Ronald A.} and Zaven Arzoumanian and Otabek Burkhonov and Hyeonho Choi and Ehgamberdiev, {Shuhrat A.} and Ferrara, {Elizabeth C.} and Muryel Guolo and Myungshin Im and Yonggi Kim and Mirzaqulov, {Davron O.} and Paek, {Gregory S. H.} and Hyun-Il Sung and Joh-Na Yoon",
year = "2023",
month = mar,
day = "1",
doi = "10.3847/2041-8213/acbea9",
language = "English",
volume = "945",
journal = "The Astrophysical Journal Letters",
issn = "2041-8205",
publisher = "IOP Publishing",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Unusual Hard X-Ray Flares Caught in NICER Monitoring of the Binary Supermassive Black Hole Candidate AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303

AU - Masterson, Megan

AU - Kara, Erin

AU - Pasham, Dheeraj R.

AU - D'Orazio, Daniel J.

AU - Walton, Dominic J.

AU - Fabian, Andrew C.

AU - Lucchini, Matteo

AU - Remillard, Ronald A.

AU - Arzoumanian, Zaven

AU - Burkhonov, Otabek

AU - Choi, Hyeonho

AU - Ehgamberdiev, Shuhrat A.

AU - Ferrara, Elizabeth C.

AU - Guolo, Muryel

AU - Im, Myungshin

AU - Kim, Yonggi

AU - Mirzaqulov, Davron O.

AU - Paek, Gregory S. H.

AU - Sung, Hyun-Il

AU - Yoon, Joh-Na

PY - 2023/3/1

Y1 - 2023/3/1

N2 - The nuclear transient AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303 has been suggested to harbor a supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary near coalescence. We report results from high-cadence NICER X-ray monitoring with multiple visits per day from 2022 January to August, as well as continued optical monitoring during the same time period. We find no evidence of periodic/quasiperiodic modulation in the X-ray, UV, or optical bands; however, we do observe exotic hard X-ray variability that is unusual for typical active galactic nuclei (AGN). The most striking feature of the NICER light curve is repetitive hard (2-4 keV) X-ray flares that result in distinctly harder X-ray spectra compared to the nonflaring data. In its nonflaring state, AT2019cuk looks like a relatively standard AGN, but it presents the first case of day-long, hard X-ray flares in a changing-look AGN. We consider a few different models for the driving mechanism of these hard X-ray flares, including (1) corona/jet variability driven by increased magnetic activity, (2) variable obscuration, and (3) self-lensing from the potential secondary SMBH. We prefer the variable corona model, as the obscuration model requires rather contrived timescales and the self-lensing model is difficult to reconcile with a lack of clear periodicity in the flares. These findings illustrate how important high-cadence X-ray monitoring is to our understanding of the rapid variability of the X-ray corona and necessitate further high-cadence, multiwavelength monitoring of changing-look AGN like AT2019cuk to probe the corona-jet connection.

AB - The nuclear transient AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303 has been suggested to harbor a supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary near coalescence. We report results from high-cadence NICER X-ray monitoring with multiple visits per day from 2022 January to August, as well as continued optical monitoring during the same time period. We find no evidence of periodic/quasiperiodic modulation in the X-ray, UV, or optical bands; however, we do observe exotic hard X-ray variability that is unusual for typical active galactic nuclei (AGN). The most striking feature of the NICER light curve is repetitive hard (2-4 keV) X-ray flares that result in distinctly harder X-ray spectra compared to the nonflaring data. In its nonflaring state, AT2019cuk looks like a relatively standard AGN, but it presents the first case of day-long, hard X-ray flares in a changing-look AGN. We consider a few different models for the driving mechanism of these hard X-ray flares, including (1) corona/jet variability driven by increased magnetic activity, (2) variable obscuration, and (3) self-lensing from the potential secondary SMBH. We prefer the variable corona model, as the obscuration model requires rather contrived timescales and the self-lensing model is difficult to reconcile with a lack of clear periodicity in the flares. These findings illustrate how important high-cadence X-ray monitoring is to our understanding of the rapid variability of the X-ray corona and necessitate further high-cadence, multiwavelength monitoring of changing-look AGN like AT2019cuk to probe the corona-jet connection.

KW - ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS

KW - QUASI-PERIODIC ERUPTIONS

KW - TIDAL DISRUPTION

KW - SYSTEMATIC SEARCH

KW - LIGHT CURVES

KW - XMM-NEWTON

KW - DUAL AGNS

KW - NUSTAR

KW - SWIFT

KW - VARIABILITY

U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/acbea9

DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/acbea9

M3 - Letter

VL - 945

JO - The Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - The Astrophysical Journal Letters

SN - 2041-8205

IS - 2

M1 - 34

ER -

ID: 342497751