TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence of a Tidal-disruption Event in GSN 069 from the Abnormal Carbon and Nitrogen Abundance Ratio
AU - Sheng, Zhenfeng
AU - Wang, Tinggui
AU - Ferland, Gary
AU - Shu, Xinwen
AU - Yang, Chenwei
AU - Jiang, Ning
AU - Chen, Yang
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..
PY - 2021/10/10
Y1 - 2021/10/10
N2 - GSN 069 is an ultra-soft X-ray active galactic nucleus that previously exhibited a huge X-ray outburst and a subsequent long-term decay. It has recently presented X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs). We report the detection of strong nitrogen lines but weak or undetectable carbon lines in its far-ultraviolet spectrum. With a detailed photoionization model, we use the C iv/N iv] ratio and other ratios between nitrogen lines to constrain the [C/N] abundance of GSN 069 to be from -3.33 to -1.91. We argue that a partially disrupted red giant star can naturally explain the abnormal C/N abundance in the UV spectrum, while the surviving core orbiting the black hole might produce the QPEs.
AB - GSN 069 is an ultra-soft X-ray active galactic nucleus that previously exhibited a huge X-ray outburst and a subsequent long-term decay. It has recently presented X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs). We report the detection of strong nitrogen lines but weak or undetectable carbon lines in its far-ultraviolet spectrum. With a detailed photoionization model, we use the C iv/N iv] ratio and other ratios between nitrogen lines to constrain the [C/N] abundance of GSN 069 to be from -3.33 to -1.91. We argue that a partially disrupted red giant star can naturally explain the abnormal C/N abundance in the UV spectrum, while the surviving core orbiting the black hole might produce the QPEs.
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U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/ac2251
DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/ac2251
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85118107456
SN - 2041-8205
VL - 920
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 1
M1 - L25
ER -