A Massive Black Hole 0.8 kpc from the Host Nucleus Revealed by the Offset Tidal Disruption Event AT2024tvd

Yao, Y, Chornock, R, Ward, C, Hammerstein, E, Sfaradi, I, Margutti, R, Kelley, LZ, Lu, W, Liu, C, Wise, J, Sollerman, J, Alexander, KD, Bellm, EC, Drake, AJ, Fremling, C, Gilfanov, M, Graham, MJ, Groom, SL, Hinds, KR, Kulkarni, SR et al (2025) A Massive Black Hole 0.8 kpc from the Host Nucleus Revealed by the Offset Tidal Disruption Event AT2024tvd. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 985 (2). ISSN 2041-8205

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Abstract

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) that are spatially offset from the nuclei of their host galaxies offer a new probe of massive black hole (MBH) wanderers, binaries, triples, and recoiling MBHs. Here we present AT2024tvd, the first off-nuclear TDE identified through optical sky surveys. High-resolution imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope shows that AT2024tvd is 0"914 ± 0"010 offset from the apparent center of its host galaxy, corresponding to a projected distance of 0.808 ± 0.009 kpc at z = 0.045. Chandra and Very Large Array observations support the same conclusion for the TDE's X-ray and radio emission. AT2024tvd exhibits typical properties of nuclear TDEs, including a persistent hot UV/optical component that peaks at Lbb ∼ 6 × 1043 erg s−1, broad hydrogen lines in its optical spectra, and delayed brightening of luminous (LX,peak ∼ 3 × 1043 erg s−1), highly variable soft X-ray emission. The MBH mass of AT2024tvd is 106±1 M⊙, at least 10 times lower than its host galaxy's central black hole mass (≳108 M⊙). The MBH in AT2024tvd has two possible origins: a wandering MBH from the lower-mass galaxy in a minor merger during the dynamical friction phase or a recoiling MBH ejected by triple interactions. Combining AT2024tvd with two previously known off-nuclear TDEs discovered in X-rays (3XMM J2150 and EP240222a), which likely involve intermediate-mass black holes in satellite galaxies, we find that the parent galaxies of all three events are very massive (∼1010.9 M⊙). This result aligns with expectations from cosmological simulations that the number of offset MBHs scales linearly with the host halo mass.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; Astronomy & Astrophysics; 5101 Astronomical sciences; 5109 Space sciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions:	Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher:	American Astronomical Society
Date of acceptance:	25 April 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	3 June 2025
Date Deposited:	03 Jun 2025 15:57
Last Modified:	03 Jun 2025 16:00
DOI or ID number:	10.3847/2041-8213/add7de
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26514

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