PS1-13cbe: the rapid transition of a Seyfert 2 to a Seyfert 1
Abstract
We present a nuclear transient event, PS1-13cbe, that was first discovered in the Pan-STARRS1 survey in 2013. The outburst occurred in the nucleus of the galaxy SDSS J222153.87+003054.2 at z = 0.123 55, which was classified as a Seyfert 2 in a pre-outburst archival Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectrum. PS1-13cbe showed the appearance of strong broad H α and H β emission lines and a non-stellar continuum in a Magellan spectrum taken 57 d after the peak of the outburst that resembled the characteristics of a Seyfert 1. These broad lines were not present in the SDSS spectrum taken a decade earlier and faded away within 2 yr, as observed in several late-time MDM spectra. We argue that the dramatic appearance and disappearance of the broad lines and a factor of ∼8 increase in the optical continuum are most likely caused by variability in the pre-existing accretion disc than a tidal disruption event, supernova, or variable obscuration. The time-scale for the turn-on of the optical emission of ∼70 d observed in this transient is among the shortest observed in a ‘changing-look’ active galactic nucleus.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jun 05, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1093/mnras/stz1552
Entities
People
- Armin Rest
- Christopher M Waters
- D. Scolnic
- David O. Jones
- Edo Berger
- Eugene A Magnier
- Nick Kaiser
- Raffaella Margutti
- Ragnhild Lunnan
- Reza Katebi
- Richard J. Wainscoat
- Rolf-peter Kudritzki
- Ryan Chornock
- William S Burgett
Organizations
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- American Museum of Natural History
- Case Western Reserve University
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Columbia University
- Drexel University
- Durham University
- Eötvös Loránd University
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
- Higher Education Funding Council for England
- Institute for Advanced Study
- Johns Hopkins University
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Central University
- National Science Foundation
- New Mexico State University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State University
- Ohio University
- Princeton University
- Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
- Space Telescope Science Institute
- Stockholm University
- United States Department of Energy
- United States Naval Observatory
- University of Basel
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- University of Cambridge
- University of Chicago
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Hawaiʻi System
- University of Maryland
- University of Michigan
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Portsmouth
- University of Washington
- École Normale Supérieure