SCAT Uncovers ATLAS's First Tidal Disruption Event ATLAS18mlw: A Faint and Fast TDE in a Quiescent Balmer Strong Galaxy
Jason T. Hinkle, Michael A. Tucker, Benjamin. J. Shappee, Thomas W.-S., Holoien, Patrick J. Vallely, Thomas de Jaeger, Katie Auchettl, Greg Aldering,, Chris Ashall, Dhvanil D. Desai, Aaron Do, Anna V. Payne, John L. Tonry

TL;DR
This paper reports the discovery and detailed analysis of ATLAS18mlw, a faint and fast tidal disruption event in a quiescent galaxy, highlighting its unique properties and contribution to the understanding of low-luminosity TDEs.
Contribution
The study presents the first detailed characterization of a faint, fast TDE using multi-year optical data and spectral analysis, expanding knowledge of TDE diversity.
Findings
ATLAS18mlw is a low-luminosity TDE with a peak luminosity of 10^43.5 erg/s.
The event declined rapidly, with a decline rate of -0.7 dex over 40 days.
The host galaxy is quiescent and Balmer strong, supporting the TDE classification.
Abstract
We present the discovery that ATLAS18mlw was a tidal disruption event (TDE) in the galaxy WISEA J073544.83+663717.3, at a luminosity distance of 334 Mpc. Initially discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on 2018 March 17.3, the TDE nature of the transient was uncovered only recently with the re-reduction of a SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph (SNIFS) spectrum. This spectrum, taken by the Spectral Classification of Astronomical Transients (SCAT) survey, shows a strong blue continuum and a broad H emission line. Here we present roughly six years of optical survey photometry beginning before the TDE to constrain AGN activity, optical spectroscopy of the transient, and a detailed study of the host galaxy properties through analysis of archival photometry and a host spectrum. ATLAS18mlw was detected in ground-based light curves for roughly two…
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Taxonomy
TopicsGamma-ray bursts and supernovae · Particle Detector Development and Performance · Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
