First Pre-peak Ultraviolet Spectrum of a Tidal Disruption Event: A Fast Outflow Revealed Prior to Maximum Light in TDE2025aarm — E8 Intelligence Research
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The tidal disruption and eventual accretion of a star by a massive black hole can lead to the launching of outflows and winds that encode important information about the tidal disruption and accretion processes. However, little is known about the existence and behavior of these outflows before optical light-curve peak, when processes such as stream-stream collisions and disk formation may be important. Here, we present the first pre-peak ultraviolet (UV) spectrum of a tidal disruption event (TDE), obtained $\sim 20$ days before optical maximum light of the nearby (redshift $z=0.0137$) TDE2025aarm, along with quasi-simultaneous infrared (IR) through X-ray observations. Our HST/STIS spectrum shows strong evidence for an early-time outflow through broad near-UV (NUV) and far-UV (FUV) absorption lines blueshifted by $\sim$10,000 km s$^{-1}$, including two new UV broad absorption features not yet identified in a TDE. We find that the FUV--IR continuum deviates significantly from a blackbody Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com
Author: Caldin, Andrew Stewart
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225779740
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