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Discovery of a giant and luminous X-ray outburst from the optically inactive galaxy pair RXJ1242.6-1119

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arxiv astro-ph/9908216 v2 pith:ZNXZANP3 submitted 1999-08-19 astro-ph

classification astro-ph
keywords galaxyvariabilityx-raybadediscoveryeventgalaxiesinactive
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We report the discovery of large-amplitude X-ray variability from the direction of the previously unknown, optically inactive galaxy pair RXJ1242.6-1119. The X-ray source shows variability by a factor > 20 between the ROSAT all-sky survey and a later pointed observation separated by ~1.5 yr. Its spectrum is extremely soft with photon index Gamma_x ~ -5, among the steepest ever observed among galaxies. Based on the redshift derived from the optical spectra, z=0.05, the source's intrinsic luminosity is large, L_x > 9x10^{43} erg/s. Surprisingly, the optical spectra of both galaxies are characterized by absorption lines and do not show signs of (Seyfert) activity. This makes RXJ1242-11 the third candidate for giant-amplitude variability in an otherwise non-active galaxy, the first two being NGC 4552 (in the UV; Renzini et al. 1995) and NGC 5905 (in X-rays; Bade et al. 1996, Komossa & Bade 1999). Several mechanisms to explain this unexpected and peculiar behavior are investigated. The most likely one seems to be an accretion event onto an otherwise dormant supermassive black hole (SMBH), e.g., by a tidal disruption event.

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Cited by 5 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. OpenAlex reports about 7 citations worldwide. Full citation record

  1. Low-hard to high-soft spectral state transitions in the faintest early-X-ray-detected optical tidal disruption event TDE 2025aarm

    astro-ph.HE 2026-07 unverdicted novelty 7.0 of 10

    TDE 2025aarm is the faintest early-X-ray-detected optical TDE and the first thermal TDE reported to show a low-hard to high-soft X-ray state transition resembling black-hole X-ray binaries.

  2. AT 2022csn: A Photometrically Peculiar Optical/UV Tidal Disruption Event in a Type II AGN

    astro-ph.HE 2026-08 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    AT 2022csn is a luminous optical/UV tidal disruption event with an 18-day double-peaked light curve, low blackbody temperature, and large radius, hosted by a likely Type II AGN.

  3. Bolometric correction factor and radiative efficiency for the super-Eddington accretion flow in tidal disruption events

    astro-ph.HE 2026-07 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Radiation hydro simulations produce black hole mass and viewing angle dependent bolometric correction factors (tens to thousands) and radiative efficiencies (0.001-0.1) for super-Eddington TDE flows that alleviate the...

  4. A Suppressed Volumetric Rate of High-Luminosity Mid-Infrared Selected Tidal Disruption Events

    astro-ph.HE 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Mid-IR search of NEOWISE yields 10 TDEs above 3e43 erg/s with volumetric rate 1.2e-10 Mpc^-3 yr^-1, showing suppression at high luminosity explained by reduced TDE rate for larger black holes.

  5. A central tidal disruption event candidate in high redshift quasar SDSS J000118.70+003314.0

    astro-ph.GA 2024-12 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    SDSS J000118.70+003314.0, a z=1.4 quasar, shows a nine-year brightening and fading pattern that is modeled as a 1.9 solar-mass star tidally disrupted by a 6.5x10^7 solar-mass black hole.

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