2021ApJ...908..125C -
Astrophys. J., 908, 125-125 (2021/February-3)
Radio monitoring of the tidal disruption event Swift J164449.3+573451 IV. Continued fading and non-relativistic expansion.
CENDES Y., EFTEKHARI T., BERGER E. and POLISENSKY E.
Abstract (from CDS):
We present continued radio and X-ray observations of the previously relativistic tidal disruption event (TDE) Swift J164449.3+573451 (Sw 1644+57) extending to about 9.4 yr post disruption, as part of ongoing campaigns with the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and the Chandra X-ray observatory. We find that the X-ray emission has faded below detectable levels, with an upper limit of <=3.5 x 10–15 erg cm–2 s–1 in a 100 ks observation, while the radio emission continues to be detected and steadily fade. Both are consistent with forward shock emission from a non-relativistic outflow, although we find that the radio spectral energy distribution is better fit at these late times with an electron power-law index of p ≃ 3 (as opposed to p ≃ 2.5 at earlier times). With the revised spectral index we find εB ≃ 0.01 using the radio and X-ray data, and a density of ≃0.04 cm3 at a radius of R ≃ 0.65 pc (Rsch ≃ 2 x 106 R☉) from the black hole. The energy scale of the blastwave is ≃1052 erg. We also report detections of Sw 1644+57 at 3 GHz from the first two epochs of the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS), and find that ∼102 off-axis Sw 1644+57-like events to z ∼ 0.5 may be present in the VLASS data. Finally, we find that Sw 1644+57 itself will remain detectable for decades at radio frequencies, although observations at sub-GHz frequencies will become increasingly important to characterize its dynamical evolution.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Journal keyword(s):
black hole physics
Simbad objects:
9
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