A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
MUSE IFU observations of galaxies hosting tidal disruption events
Authors: Pursiainen, Miika; Leloudas, G.; Lyman, Joe; Byrne, Conor M.; Charalampopoulos, Panagiotis; Ramsden, P.; Kim, S.; Schulze, S.; Anderson, J. P.; Bauer, F. E.; Dai, L.; Galbany, L.; Kuncarayakti, Hanindyo; Nicholl, Matt; Pessi, T.; Prieto, J. L.; Sanchez, Sebastian F.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Article number: staf2093
Volume: 545
Issue: 3
ISSN: 0035-8711
eISSN: 1365-2966
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf2093
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf2093
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508426669
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
We present an analysis of 20 tidal disruption events (TDEs) host galaxies observed with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) integral-field spectrograph on European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT). We investigate the presence of extended emission line regions (EELRs) and study stellar populations mostly at sub-kpc scale around the host nuclei. EELRs are detected in 5/20 hosts, including two unreported systems. All EELRs are found at z < 0.045, suggesting a distance bias and faint EELRs may be missed at higher redshift. EELRs only appear in post-merger systems and all such hosts at z < 0.045 show them. Thus, we conclude that TDEs and galaxy mergers have a strong relation, and >45 per cent of post-merger hosts in the sample exhibit EELRs. Furthermore, we constrained the distributions of stellar masses near the central black holes (BHs), using the spectral synthesis code STARLIGHT and BPASS stellar evolution models. The youngest nuclear populations have typical ages of ∼1 Gyr and stellar masses below 2.5 M. The populations that can produce observable TDEs around non-rotating BHs are dominated by sub-solar-mass stars. 3/4 TDEs requiring larger stellar masses exhibit multipeaked light curves, possibly implying relation to repeated partial disruptions of high-mass stars. The found distributions are in tension with the masses of the stars derived using light curve models. Mass segregation of the disrupted stars can enhance the rate of TDEs from supersolar-mass stars but our study implies that low-mass TDEs should still be abundant and even dominate the distribution, unless there is a mechanism that prohibits low-mass TDEs or their detection.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |  |
Funding information in the publication:
MP and GL acknowledge support from a VILLUM FONDEN research grant (19054). GL acknowledges support from a VILLUM FONDEN research grant (VIL60862). MP and JL acknowledge support from a UK Research and Innovation Fellowship (MR/T020784/1). CMB acknowledges funding from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) through Consolidated Grant Number ST/X001121/. PC acknowledges support via the Research Council of Finland (grant 340613). PR acknowledges support from STFC grant 2742655. This work was funded by ANID, Millennium Science Initiative, ICN12_009. FEB acknowledges support from ANID-Chile BASAL CATA FB210003, FONDECYT Regular 1241005, and Millennium Science Initiative, AIM23-0001. MN is supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 948381). HK was funded by the Research Council of Finland projects 324504, 328898, and 353019. JLP acknowledges support from ANID, Millennium Science Initiative, AIM23-0001.
