Multiwavelength study of extreme variability in LEDA 1154204: A changing-look event in a type 1.9 Seyfert

TL;DR

This study presents a detailed three-year multiwavelength follow-up of a changing-look event in the Seyfert galaxy LEDA 1154204, revealing spectral and flux variability linked to a disk instability in the accretion flow.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive multiwavelength observational analysis of a changing-look event triggered by a disk instability in a Seyfert galaxy.

Findings

Optical spectra showed a broad double-peaked Hβ emission and increased flux during the flare.

X-ray spectrum remained stable despite large flux variations, indicating no significant spectral change.

The event was likely caused by a disk instability affecting the accretion flow and broad-line region.

Abstract

Context. Multiwavelength studies of transients in actively accreting supermassive black holes have revealed that large-amplitude variability is frequently linked to significant changes in the optical spectra -- a phenomenon known as changing-look AGN (CLAGN).} Aims. In 2020, the Zwicky Transient Facility detected a transient flaring event in the type 1.9 AGN LEDA 1154204, wherein brightness sharply increased by 0.55 mag in one month, then began to decay. Spectrum Roentgen Gamma (SRG)/eROSITA also observed the object as part of its all-sky X-ray surveys, after the flare had started decaying. Methods. We performed a three-year, multiwavelength follow-up campaign to track the source's spectral and temporal characteristics, during the post-flare fading. This campaign included optical spectroscopy, X-ray spectroscopy and photometry, and UV, optical, and IR continuum photometry. Results. Optical spectra taken near the flare peak revealed a broad double-peaked H$\beta$ emission and a blue continuum, both undetected in a 2005 archival spectrum; broad H$\beta$ had increased by a factor $>$5--6. Then, from late 2020 through 2023, broad Balmer line flux faded as the continuum faded, with Balmer decrement increasing by $\sim$2.2, consistent with the expected ionization response. The X-ray spectrum exhibits no significant spectral variability despite dramatic flux variation -- a factor of 17. There is no evidence of a soft X-ray excess, indicating an energetically unimportant warm corona. Conclusions. The transient event was likely triggered by a disk instability in a pre-existing AGN-like accretion flow, culminating in the observed multiwavelength variability -- X-rays via thermal Comptonization, BLR illumination, and IR dust echo -- and CLAGN event.