Detection of a parsec-scale, compact, and fading ejecta from an accreting massive black hole

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2026

Dwarf galaxies, characterized by their low luminosities and masses, are excellent candidates for searches for intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), particularly when they show strong accretion and ejection activity. The dwarf galaxy SDSS J101747.09+393207.7 has recently been found to display a very high X-ray luminosity and an X-shaped optical structure, possibly caused by a dwarf-dwarf merger. To explore its potential IMBH ejection activity, we performed very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations at 4.9 GHz. In this work, we present the detection of a milliarcsecond-scale, compact, sub-microjansky radio component near the optical centroid. According to some existing radio sky survey data, the radio component was not detected until 2015; it displayed an optically thin steep radio spectrum and declining flux densities across 0.8-5 GHz from 2019 to 2025. Therefore, we identify it as a short-lived and rarely seen ejecta that was produced by unstable accretion onto a massive black hole and likely faded away in a few decades. These results indicate that short-lived, episodic jet activity from accreting IMBHs in dwarf galaxies might exist.