AT 2021loi is an optical-ultraviolet transient located at the center of its host galaxy. Its spectral features identify it as a member of the ``Bowen Fluorescence Flare'' (BFF) class. The first member of this class was considered to be related to a tidal disruption event, but enhanced accretion onto an already active supermassive black hole was suggested as an alternative explanation. AT 2021loi, having occurred in a previously-known unobscured AGN, strengthens the latter interpretation. Its light curve is similar to those of previous BFFs, showing a rebrightening approximately one year after the main peak (which was not explicitly identified, but might be the case, in all previous BFFs). An emission feature around 4680 A, seen in the pre-flare spectrum, strengthens by a factor of \sim2 around the optical peak of the flare, and is clearly seen as a double peaked feature then, suggesting a blend of NIII λ4640\lambda 4640 with HeII λ4686\lambda4686 as its origin. The appearance of OIII λ\lambda3133 and possible NIII λλ4097,4103\lambda\lambda4097,4103 (blended with Hδ\delta) during the flare further support a Bowen Fluorescence classification. Here, we present ZTF, ATLAS, Keck, Las Cumbres Observatory, NEOWISE-R, SwiftSwift, AMI and VLA observations of AT 2021loi, making it one of the best observed BFFs to date. AT 2021loi thus provides some clarity on the nature of BFFs but also further demonstrates the diversity of nuclear transients.
There are no more papers matching your filters at the moment.