Received April 26, 2024; Revised July 10, 2024; Accepted July 15, 2024 | Zheyu Lin, Ning Jiang, Tinggui Wang, Xu Kong, Dongyue Li, Han He, Yibo Wang, Jiazheng Zhu, Wentao Li, Ji-an Jiang, Avinash Singh, Rishabh Singh Teja, D. K. Sahu, Chichuan Jin, Keiichi Maeda, and Shifeng Huang
The paper reports the discovery of a repeated partial tidal disruption event (pTDE), AT 2022db1, in a quiescent galaxy at \( z = 0.0284 \). Two separate optical/UV flares were observed in 2022 and 2024, with no significant X-ray, radio, or mid-infrared counterparts. The second flare had a similar blackbody temperature of approximately 26,000 K but a slightly lower peak luminosity and slower rise and fall phases compared to the first flare. Spectral analysis revealed highly similar broad Balmer, N III, and possible He II emission lines, particularly at around 4100 Å, indicating a connection between the two flares. This is the first robust spectroscopic evidence for a repeated pTDE, which can be further verified by observing the third flare due to the short orbital period of the star. The paper discusses the implications of this discovery for understanding pTDEs and the mechanisms of optical/UV emission in tidal disruption events.The paper reports the discovery of a repeated partial tidal disruption event (pTDE), AT 2022db1, in a quiescent galaxy at \( z = 0.0284 \). Two separate optical/UV flares were observed in 2022 and 2024, with no significant X-ray, radio, or mid-infrared counterparts. The second flare had a similar blackbody temperature of approximately 26,000 K but a slightly lower peak luminosity and slower rise and fall phases compared to the first flare. Spectral analysis revealed highly similar broad Balmer, N III, and possible He II emission lines, particularly at around 4100 Å, indicating a connection between the two flares. This is the first robust spectroscopic evidence for a repeated pTDE, which can be further verified by observing the third flare due to the short orbital period of the star. The paper discusses the implications of this discovery for understanding pTDEs and the mechanisms of optical/UV emission in tidal disruption events.