Program: GS-2023A-Q-205

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) offer a powerful probe of the demographics of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in quiescent galaxies and of a large dynamic range in accretion variability on human observable timescales. While optical surveys have led to a revolution in the identification of TDEs, there is increasing evidence that these represent only a partial view of the landscape. Using images from the NEOWISE survey, we have recently created a statistically complete, all-sky catalog of mid-IR transients, and identified a sample of eleven luminous (> 10^42 erg/s), nuclear flares in nearby galaxies (within 200 Mpc). These flares span a range in timescales, colors and host galaxy types, mostly without any known optical counterparts. As likely dust obscured TDEs in our cosmological backyard, we propose here Gemini optical spectroscopy with GMOS to search for the presence of broad/variable emission lines tracing the dynamic accretion flow around the SMBHs to confirm recent transient accretion events in these dense and gas/dust rich environments. The all-sky, uniform spectroscopic data will provide a benchmark for understanding luminous infrared flares in Galactic nuclei and may open up a new window into understanding stellar disruptions in the emerging era of infrared time domain surveys.