Back from the dead: AT2019aalc as a candidate repeating tidal disruption event in an active galactic nucleus
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Context. To date, three nuclear transients have been associated with high-energy neutrino events. These transients are generally thought to be powered by tidal disruption events (TDEs) in stars caused by massive black holes. However, AT2019aalc, hosted in a Seyfert-1 galaxy, has not yet been classified due to a lack of multiwavelength observations. Interestingly, the source re-brightened 4 years after its discovery. Aims. Our aim is to constrain the physical mechanism responsible for the second optical flare, which may also provide clues to the origin of the initial event. Methods. We conducted a multiwavelength monitoring program (from radio to X-rays) of AT2019aalc during its re-brightening in 2023–2024. Results. The observations revealed multiple X-ray flares during the second optical flaring episode of the transient and a uniquely bright UV counterpart. The second flare, similar to the first one, is accompanied by IR dust echo emission. A long-term radio flare was found with an inverted spectrum. Optical spectroscopic observations revealed the presence of Bowen fluorescence lines and strong high-ionization coronal lines, indicating an extreme level of ionization in the system. Conclusions. The results suggest that the transient can be classified as a Bowen fluorescence flare (BFF), a relatively new sub-class of flaring active galactic nuclei (AGNs). AT2019aalc can be also classified as an extreme coronal line emitter (ECLE). We find that in addition to AT2019aalc, another BFF, AT2021loi, is spatially coincident with a high-energy neutrino event. We propose a repeating TDE scenario within an AGN framework to explain the multiwavelength properties of AT2019aalc and suggest a possible connection among ECLEs, BFFs, and TDEs occurring in AGNs.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".