http://arxiv.org/abs/1604.06093
We present late-time optical spectroscopy taken with the Large Binocular Telescope’s Multi-Object Double Spectrograph, an improved ASAS-SN pre-discovery non-detection, and late-time SWIFT observations of the nearby ($d=193$ Mpc, $z=0.0436$) tidal disruption event (TDE) ASASSN-14ae. Our observations span from $\sim$20 days before to $\sim$750 days after discovery. The proximity of ASASSN-14ae allows us to study the optical evolution of the flare and the transition to a host dominated state with exceptionally high precision. We measure very weak H$\alpha$ emission 300 days after discovery ($L_{\rm H\alpha} \simeq 4\times 10^{39}$ ergs s$^{-1}$) and the most stringent upper limit to date on the H$\alpha$ luminosity $\sim$~750 days after discovery ($L_{\rm H\alpha} \lesssim 10^{39}$ ergs s$^{-1}$), suggesting that the optical emission arising from a TDE can vanish on a timescale as short as 1 year. Our results have important implications for both spectroscopic detection of TDE candidates at late times, as well as the nature of TDE host galaxies themselves.
J. Brown, B. Shappee, T. Holoien, et. al.
Fri, 22 Apr 16
35/54
Comments: 9 pages, 5 figures, submitted to MNRAS
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