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Niko Pyykkinen

Publications and source records attributed to Niko Pyykkinen.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Aarmed with Data: Bumps, Outflows, and Disk-like Emission in TDE 2025aarm

The origin of the optical emission in tidal disruption events (TDEs) remains one of the major outstanding questions in the field, in part due to the limited number of nearby events with high-cadence monitoring to track their evolving photometric and spectroscopic properties. We present multi-wavelength observations of the nearby ($z=0.01368$) TDE\,2025aarm, including near-daily spectroscopic coverage prior to the optical peak. Its proximity makes it one of the brightest TDEs discovered, reaching a peak magnitude of $m_r\sim15.5$ ($M_r\sim-18$). The light curve deviates from a smooth evolution, exhibiting multiple rebrightening episodes visible in both the individual filter light curves and the bolometric luminosity. Blackbody modelling reveals that these rebrightenings are associated with an increase in temperature of $> 5,000-10,000$\,K, while the inferred photospheric radius remains approximately constant. Simultaneously, the H$\alpha$ line not only increases in blueshift but also broadens, suggesting a link between the continuum rebrightenings to changes in the kinematics of the line-forming gas. We identify a persistent absorption component at $\sim-3900$\,km\,s$^{-1}$ in multiple Balmer lines, providing further evidence for outflowing material. The H$\alpha$ profile also exhibits excess flux compared to a Gaussian on both sides of the line, inconsistent with simple scattering-dominated outflow models. Disk-profile modelling provides evidence for the emergence of a disk-like component least $\sim20$ days after peak, with substantial changes in the disk properties between $\sim50$ and 60 days. These observations highlight the complexity of TDE emission processes and demonstrate how dense multi-wavelength monitoring can disentangle the roles of accretion, reprocessing, and outflows in shaping TDE emission.

astro-ph.HE

Dust Without Na I D Trace: The Case of Highly Attenuated Type Ib SN 2024vjc

Understanding dust attenuation toward extragalactic transients is critical for recovering their intrinsic properties and probing the local environments of distant galaxies. A popular diagnostic is the Na I D absorption equivalent width widely applied to extragalactic transients. In this paper, we present early-time optical and near-infrared observations of the Type Ib supernova (SN) SN 2024vjc, followed for $\sim$130 days post-explosion. SN~2024vjc exhibits only weak Na~I~D absorption, indicating only a modest host attenuation with $E (B-V)_{\rm host} \sim 0.18$ mag; if this argument were applied, SN~2024vjc would be a peculiar, faint, and red SN Ib while showing the light-curve shape and spectral evolution broadly consistent with those of canonical SNe Ib. We show that this is not the case; SN-based diagnostics (intrinsic color templates, color-curve evolution, and spectral dereddening) together with the Balmer decrement indicate substantial attenuation, $E(B-V) \sim 0.45$ $-$ $0.8$\,mag. The weak Na I D absorption may result from photoionization of neutral sodium by the intense radiation field of a young H$_{2}$ region at the explosion site; this scenario is directly supported by the detection of narrow H$_{\alpha}$, [N$_{2}$], and H$_{\beta}$ emission lines and a blue continuum excess in late-time spectroscopy. SN~2024vjc represents a clear counterexample to the commonly assumption that weak or absent Na I D absorption implies negligible host-galaxy attenuation, and highlights the importance of employing multiple, independent attenuation diagnostics.

astro-ph.HE