{
  "id": "2207.14085",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2022-07-28T13:43:54.000Z",
  "updated": "2022-07-28T13:43:54.000Z",
  "title": "Exploration of the origin of 2020 X-ray outburst in OJ 287",
  "authors": [
    "Shifeng Huang",
    "Shaoming Hu",
    "Hongxing Yin",
    "Xu Chen",
    "Sofya Alexeeva",
    "Yunguo Jiang"
  ],
  "comment": "13 pages, 11 figures and 3 tables, accepted by MNRAS",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.HE",
    "astro-ph.GA"
  ],
  "abstract": "Research into OJ 287 has been ongoing for many years. In 2020 April-June, this source underwent the second highest X-ray outburst (second only to the 2016-2017 outburst) and the mechanism of this outburst is still under debate. In this paper, we discuss two scenarios to explore the origin of the outburst: an after-effect of a black hole-disc impact and a tidal disruption event (TDE). We present the weak correlations of the spectral index versus X-ray flux and the hardness ratio (HR) versus the soft X-ray flux during the outburst, and these features are different from the case in the quiescent state. The correlations are compared with those of the 2016-2017 outburst with the highest X-ray flux in monitoring history. Analysis of the outbursts in 2016-2017 and 2020 shows that the expected time of the X-ray outburst, based on the theory of the after-effect of the black hole-disc impact and the estimation of available data, is inconsistent with historical observations. The soft X-ray spectra, the barely temporal evolution of colour, and the evolution of the HR mean that the 2020 outburst shares similar features with the 2016-2017 outburst, which was considered as a possible candidate for a TDE. Additionally, we find that the predictions of full TDEs ($t^{-5/3}$) and partial TDEs ($t^{-9/4}$) for the soft X-ray decay light curve are well fitted. Our analysis suggests that the 2020 outburst in OJ 287 is probably related to the TDE candidate.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2022-07-28T13:43:54.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "x-ray flux",
      "black hole-disc impact",
      "soft x-ray decay light curve",
      "second highest x-ray outburst",
      "exploration"
    ],
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 13,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}