Speaker
Description
When a star passes too close to a supermassive black hole (SMBH) it can be destroyed, temporarily increasing the accretion rate onto the SMBH. Such tidal disruption events (TDEs) produce bright flares across the electromagnetic spectrum that provide a unique window into the central region of a galaxy, including the previously dormant black hole. Radio observations of TDEs are essential for probing synchrotron emission from electrons that are accelerated in the shocks formed from outflows. However, <30 TDEs have published radio detections so the origin of these outflows is still under debate, with scenarios including accretion disk winds, weak radio jets launched by accretion onto the SMBH, or collisions between debris streams. Some events have even displayed unexplained late-time radio flares years after the disruption. A comprehensive analysis of the radio properties of X-ray bright TDEs, and therefore any link between radio outflows and strong accretion, was not possible due to the lack of dedicated radio observations of X-ray selected events. However, the eROSITA all-sky surveys allowed the search for and identification of many X-ray bright TDE candidates. In this talk I will present an overview of our systematic radio follow-up of the eROSITA TDE “golden sample” with the Australian Compact Array Telescope (ATCA). I will discuss the prevalence of radio emission from bright X-ray TDEs, any link between X-ray and radio bright emitters, and the properties of the outflows launched.
