A Systematic Search for Active Galactic Nucleus Flares in ZTF Data Release 23
Abstract
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are known to exhibit stochastic variability across a wide range of timescales and wavelengths. AGN flares are extreme outbursts that deviate from this typical behavior and may trace a range of energetic physical processes. Using six years of data from Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) Data Release 23, we conduct a systematic search for AGN flares among a sample of well-sampled AGNs and AGN candidates. We construct two catalogs: the AGN Flare Coarse Catalog (AGNFCC), containing 28,504 flares identified via Bayesian blocks and Gaussian Processes, and the AGN Flare Refined Catalog (AGNFRC), comprising 1,984 high-confidence flares selected using stricter criteria. We analyze their spatial distribution, temporal characteristics, host AGN type and potential origins. Some flares can be associated with known supernovae, tidal disruption events, or blazars, and a few may be linked to binary black hole mergers or microlensing events. These catalogs provide a valuable resource for studying transient phenomena in AGNs and are publicly available at https://github.com/Lyle0831/AGN-Flares.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2507.20232,
title = {A Systematic Search for Active Galactic Nucleus Flares in ZTF Data Release 23},
author = {Lei He and Zheng-Yan Liu and Rui Niu and Ming-Shen Zhou and Pu-Run Zou and Bing-Zhou Gao and Run-Duo Liang and Liang-Gui Zhu and Jian-Min Wang and Ning Jiang and Zhen-Yi Cai and Ji-an Jiang and Zi-Gao Dai and Ye-Fei Yuan and Yong-Jie Chen and Wen Zhao},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.20232},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
20 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in ApJS