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- Berger, E;
- de Boer, T;
- Cendes, Y;
- Chambers, K;
- Chen, T-W;
- Chornock, Ryan;
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- Gillanders, J;
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- Magnier, E;
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- Patra, K;
- Ramsden, P;
- Ravi, V;
- Ridley, E;
- Sheng, X;
- Smartt, S;
- Smith, K;
- Srivastav, S;
- Stein, R;
- Stevance, H;
- Turner, S;
- Wainscoat, R;
- Weston, J;
- Wevers, T;
- Young, D
Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are luminous bursts of soft X-rays from the nuclei of galaxies, repeating on timescales of hours to weeks1-5. The mechanism behind these rare systems is uncertain, but most theories involve accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) undergoing instabilities6-8 or interacting with a stellar object in a close orbit9-11. It has been suggested that this disk could be created when the SMBH disrupts a passing star8,11, implying that many QPEs should be preceded by observable tidal disruption events (TDEs). Two known QPE sources show long-term decays in quiescent luminosity consistent with TDEs4,12 and two observed TDEs have exhibited X-ray flares consistent with individual eruptions13,14. TDEs and QPEs also occur preferentially in similar galaxies15. However, no confirmed repeating QPEs have been associated with a spectroscopically confirmed TDE or an optical TDE observed at peak brightness. Here we report the detection of nine X-ray QPEs with a mean recurrence time of approximately 48 h from AT2019qiz, a nearby and extensively studied optically selected TDE16. We detect and model the X-ray, ultraviolet (UV) and optical emission from the accretion disk and show that an orbiting body colliding with this disk provides a plausible explanation for the QPEs.