High-cadence observations of galactic nuclei by the future two-band UV-photometry mission QUVIK

The Quick Ultra-VIolet Kilonova surveyor (QUVIK), a two-band ultraviolet (UV) space telescope approved for funding as a Czech national science and technology mission, will focus on detecting early UV light of kilonovae (KNe) (Werner et al., 2024). In addition, it will study the UV emission of stars and systems (Krtička et al., 2024) as well as the intense and variable emission of active galactic nuclei (AGN) or galactic nuclei activated by tidal disruption events (TDEs) (Zajaček et al., 2024). In this contribution, we describe the role of this small (∼30-cm diameter) UV telescope for studying bright, nearby AGN. With its NUV and FUV bands, the telescope will perform high-cadence (∼0.1 to 1 day) two-band photometric monitoring of nearby AGN (z<1), which will allow us to probe accretion disk sizes/temperature profiles via photometric reverberation mapping. Thanks to its versatility, QUVIK will be able to perform a moderately fast repointing (<20 min) to target candidates for TDEs. Early detection of the UV emission following a TDE optical flare, in combination with the subsequent two-band UV monitoring performed simultaneously with other observatories, will enable us to infer the time delay (or its lack of) between the optical, UV, and X-ray emission. In combination with theoretical models, it will be possible to shed more light on the origin of the UV/optical emission of TDEs. Furthermore, the two-band monitoring of nuclear transients will be beneficial in distinguishing between TDEs (nearly constant blue color) and supernovae (progressive reddening) in the era of intensive wide-field surveys.

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