ASASSN-14ko is a Periodic Nuclear Transient in ESO 253-G003
Anna V. Payne, Benjamin J. Shappee, Jason T. Hinkle, Patrick J., Vallely, Christopher S. Kochanek, Thomas W.-S. Holoien, Katie Auchettl, K. Z., Stanek, Todd A. Thompson, Jack M. M. Neustadt, Michael A. Tucker, James D., Armstrong, Joseph Brimacombe, Paulo Cacella, Robert Cornect

TL;DR
ASASSN-14ko is a periodically flaring active galactic nucleus with decreasing outburst intervals, likely caused by a repeated partial tidal disruption event, as observed over six years with multi-wavelength data.
Contribution
This study reports the discovery of a periodic nuclear transient with decreasing period, providing evidence for a repeated partial tidal disruption event in an active galactic nucleus.
Findings
Periodic outbursts with mean period 114.2 days
Decreasing period over time with a period derivative of -0.0017
Spectroscopic and UV observations consistent with TDE-like events
Abstract
We present the discovery that ASASSN-14ko is a periodically flaring AGN at the center of the galaxy ESO 253-G003. At the time of its discovery by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN), it was classified as a supernova close to the nucleus. The subsequent six years of V- and g-band ASAS-SN observations reveal that ASASSN-14ko has nuclear flares occurring at regular intervals. The seventeen observed outbursts show evidence of a decreasing period over time, with a mean period of days and a period derivative of . The most recent outburst in May 2020, which took place as predicted, exhibited spectroscopic changes during the rise and a had a UV bright, blackbody spectral energy distribution similar to tidal disruption events (TDEs). The X-ray flux decreased by a factor of 4 at the beginning of the outburst and then returned to…
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Taxonomy
TopicsGamma-ray bursts and supernovae · Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations · Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
