ABSTRACT
We present the results of photometric observations of three TeV blazars, 3C 66A, S4 0954+658, and BL Lacertae (BL Lac), during the period 2013–2017. Our extensive observations were performed ...in a total of 360 nights which produced ∼6820 image frames in BVRI bands. We study flux and spectral variability of these blazars on these lengthy time-scales. We also examine the optical spectral energy distributions of these blazars, which are crucial in understanding the emission mechanism of long-term variability in blazars. All three TeV blazars exhibited strong flux variability during our observations. The colour variations are mildly chromatic on long time-scales for two of them. The nature of the long-term variability of 3C 66A and S4 0954+658 is consistent with a model of a non-thermal variable component that has a continuous injection of relativistic electrons with power-law distributions around 4.3 and 4.6, respectively. However, the long-term flux and colour variability of BL Lac suggests that these can arise from modest changes in velocities or viewing angle toward the emission region, leading to variations in the Doppler boosting of the radiation by a factor of ∼1.2 over the period of these observations.
ABSTRACT
Blazar S5 0716+714 is well-known for its short-term variability, down to intraday time-scales. We here present the 2-min cadence optical light curve obtained by the TESS space telescope in ...2019 December–2020 January and analyse the object fast variability with unprecedented sampling. Supporting observations by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope Collaboration in B, V, R, and I bands allow us to investigate the spectral variability during the TESS pointing. The spectral analysis is further extended in frequency to the UV and X-ray bands with data from the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. We develop a new method to unveil the shortest optical variability time-scales. This is based on progressive de-trending of the TESS light curve by means of cubic spline interpolations through the binned fluxes, with decreasing time bins. The de-trended light curves are then analysed with classical tools for time-series analysis (periodogram, autocorrelation, and structure functions). The results show that below 3 d there are significant characteristic variability time-scales of about 1.7, 0.5, and 0.2 d. Variability on time-scales $\lesssim 0.2$ d is strongly chromatic and must be ascribed to intrinsic energetic processes involving emitting regions, likely jet substructures, with dimension less than about 10−3 pc. In contrast, flux changes on time-scales $\gtrsim 0.5$ d are quasi-achromatic and are probably due to Doppler factor changes of geometric origin.
We report on a recent multiband optical photometric and polarimetric observational campaign of the blazar OJ 287 that was carried out during 2016 September-2017 December. We employed nine telescopes ...in Bulgaria, China, Georgia, Japan, Serbia, Spain, and the United States. We collected over 1800 photometric image frames in BVRI bands and over 100 polarimetric measurements over ∼175 nights. In 11 nights with many quasi-simultaneous multiband (V, R, I) observations, we did not detect any genuine intraday variability in flux or color. On longer timescales, multiple flaring events were seen. Large changes in color with respect to time and in a color-magnitude diagram were seen, and while only a weak systematic variability trend was noticed in color with respect to time, the color-magnitude diagram shows a bluer-when-brighter trend. Large changes in the degree of polarization and substantial swings in the polarization angle were detected. The fractional Stokes parameters of the polarization showed a systematic trend with time in the beginning of these observations, followed by chaotic changes and then an apparently systematic variation at the end. These polarization changes coincide with the detection and duration of the source at very high energies as seen by VERITAS. The spectral index shows a systematic variation with time and V-band magnitude. We briefly discuss possible physical mechanisms that could explain the observed flux, color, polarization, and spectral variability.
Abstract
In this work, we present 8523 pairs of
R
-band optical photometry observations for the quasar 3C 454.3 made during the period of 2006 October–2018 February on the 70 cm meniscus telescope at ...Abastumani Observatory, Georgia, to study its intraday variabilities (IDVs) and long-term variations, and we have come to the following results. (1) We detected 10 outbursts, a Δ
R
= 3.825 mag variation, and some IDVs. The IDV timescales are from 4.1 to 285 minutes, with the corresponding variability amplitude being
A
= 2.9%–43.67%. The amplitude increases with IDV timescale. (2) The largest variation over a 1 day timescale is Δ
R
= 1.38 mag. (3) The IDV timescales suggest that the emission sizes are from 8.9 × 10
13
cm to 6.20 × 10
15
cm, and the magnetic field strengths are
B
= 0.18–0.79 G. (4) Period analysis results show three possible long-term periods,
p
= 3.04 ± 0.02 yr,
p
= 1.66 ± 0.06 yr, and
p
= 1.20 ± 0.03 yr in the optical light curve. We adopted the accretion disk models and the lighthouse models to period
p
= 3.04 ± 0.02 yr: in the accretion disk models, the binary black holes have masses
M
= 1.17 × 10
9
M
⊙
; in the lighthouse models, we used two boosted jet flux densities to fit the observational light curve. (5) WWZ analysis gives some short-period (high-frequency) signals associated with strong bursts (JD 2,454,302 and JD 2,454,521) with variable frequencies and lasting for the entire observation time span (11.3 yr).
Abstract
Variability is one of the main observational characteristics of blazars. Studying variability is an efficient method to reveal the nature of active galactic nuclei. In the present work, we ...report optical
R
-band photometry observations of a TeV blazar, 1ES 2344 + 514, carried out with a 70 cm telescope in the period of 1998 July–2017 November at Abastumani Observatory, Georgia. Based on the optical
R
-band observations, the optical variation behaviors on both short timescales and long timescales are investigated. Three methods (Jurkevich, discrete correlation function, and power spectrum analysis) are used to investigate periodicity in the light curve. In addition, combined with multiwavelength data, the jet physical properties are discussed. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) A variability of Δ
R
= 0.155 mag (15.356 − 15.201 mag) over a timescale of Δ
T
= 12.99 minutes is detected during our 628 days of monitoring. (2) According to the Kelvin–Helmholtz thermal instability, if the magnetic field intensity (
B
) for the source is greater than a critical value (
B
c
), it will reduce the incidence of intraday variations in the light curves. (3) The physical parameters of the dissipation region are obtained by fitting the spectral energy distribution with a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model for the average and flare states. (4) The three methods show that there are periods of
P
= 2.72 ± 0.47 yr,
P
= 1.61 ± 0.18 yr,
P
= 1.31 ± 0.17 yr, and
P
= 1.05 ± 0.07 yr. When a binary black hole system is adopted with a period of
P
= 2.72 ± 0.41 yr, we obtain the orbital parameters for the binary black hole system as follows:
M
= 8.08 × 10
9
M
⊙
, the sum of the semiaxes is
r
= 7.18 × 10
16
cm, and the lifetime of the binary black hole is
τ
merge
= 6.24 × 10
2
yr.
We present recent optical photometric observations of the blazar OJ 287 taken during 2015 September-2016 May. Our intense observations of the blazar started in 2015 November and continued until 2016 ...May and included detection of the large optical outburst in 2015 December that was predicted using the binary black hole model for OJ 287. For our observing campaign, we used a total of nine ground-based optical telescopes of which one is in Japan, one is in India, three are in Bulgaria, one is in Serbia, one is in Georgia, and two are in the USA. These observations were carried out in 102 nights with a total of ~1000 image frames in BVRI bands, though the majority were in the R band. We detected a second comparably strong flare in 2016 March. In addition, we investigated multiband flux variations, colour variations, and spectral changes in the blazar on diverse time-scales as they are useful in understanding the emission mechanisms. We briefly discuss the possible physical mechanisms most likely responsible for the observed flux, colour, and spectral variability.
Abstract
We report results from a one-week multiwavelength campaign to monitor the BL Lacertae object (BL Lac) S5 0716+714 (on 2009 December 9-16). Nine ground-based telescopes at widely separated ...longitudes and one space-based telescope aboard the Swift satellite collected optical data. Radio data were obtained from the Effelsberg and Urumqi observatories and X-ray data from Swift. In the radio bands, the source shows rapid ∼(0.5-1.5) d intraday variability with peak amplitudes of up to ∼10 per cent. The variability at 2.8 cm leads by about 1 d the variability at 6 and 11 cm. This time lag and more rapid variations suggest an intrinsic contribution to the source's intraday variability at 2.8 cm, while at 6 and 11 cm, interstellar scintillation (ISS) seems to predominate. Large and quasi-sinusoidal variations of ∼0.8 mag were detected in the V, R and I bands. The X-ray data (0.2-10 keV) do not reveal significant variability on a 4 d time-scale, favouring reprocessed inverse Compton over synchrotron radiation in this band. The characteristic variability time-scales in radio and optical bands are similar. A quasi-periodic variation of 0.9-1.1 d in the optical data may be present, but if so it is marginal and limited to 2.2 cycles. Cross-correlations between radio and optical bands are discussed. The lack of a strong radio-optical correlation indicates different physical causes of variability (ISS at long radio wavelengths, source intrinsic origin in the optical) and is consistent with a high jet opacity and a compact synchrotron component peaking at ≃100 GHz in an ongoing very prominent flux-density outburst. For the campaign period, we construct a quasi-simultaneous spectral energy distribution, including γ-ray data from the Fermi satellite. We obtain lower limits for the relativistic Doppler boosting of δ ≥ 12-26, which for a BL Lac-type object is remarkably high.
Abstract
We report on long-term multiwavelength monitoring of blazar Mrk 421 by the GLAST-AGILE Support Program of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (GASP-WEBT) collaboration and Steward Observatory, ...and by the Swift and Fermi satellites. We study the source behaviour in the period 2007–2015, characterized by several extreme flares. The ratio between the optical, X-ray and γ-ray fluxes is very variable. The γ-ray flux variations show a fair correlation with the optical ones starting from 2012. We analyse spectropolarimetric data and find wavelength-dependence of the polarization degree (P), which is compatible with the presence of the host galaxy, and no wavelength dependence of the electric vector polarization angle (EVPA). Optical polarimetry shows a lack of simple correlation between P and flux and wide rotations of the EVPA. We build broad-band spectral energy distributions with simultaneous near-infrared and optical data from the GASP-WEBT and ultraviolet and X-ray data from the Swift satellite. They show strong variability in both flux and X-ray spectral shape and suggest a shift of the synchrotron peak up to a factor of ∼50 in frequency. The interpretation of the flux and spectral variability is compatible with jet models including at least two emitting regions that can change their orientation with respect to the line of sight.
Following the detection of strong TeV gamma-ray flares from the BL Lac object 1ES 1959+650 with the Whipple 10 m Cerenkov telescope on 2002 May 16 and 17, we performed intensive target of opportunity ...radio, optical, X-ray, and TeV gamma-ray observations from 2002 May 18 to August 14. Observations with the X- ray telescope Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer and the Whipple and HEGRA gamma- ray telescopes revealed several strong flares, enabling us to sensitively test the X-ray-gamma-ray flux correlation properties. Although the X-ray and gamma- ray fluxes seemed to be correlated in general, we found an "orphan" gamma-ray flare that was not accompanied by an X-ray flare. While we detected optical flux variability with the Boltwood and Abastumani observatories, the data did not give evidence for a correlation of the optical flux variability with the observed X-ray and gamma-ray flares. Within statistical errors of about 0.03 Jy at 14.5 GHz and 0.05 Jy at 4.8 GHz, the radio fluxes measured with the University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory stayed constant throughout the campaign; the mean values agreed well with the values measured on 2002 May 7 and June 7 at 4.9 and 15 GHz with the Very Large Array and at 4.8 GHz with archival flux measurements. After describing in detail the radio, optical, X-ray and gamma-ray light curves, and spectral energy distributions (SEDs), we present initial modeling of the SED with a simple synchrotron self-Compton model. With the addition of another TeV blazar with good broadband data, we consider the set of all TeV blazars, to begin to look for a connection of the jet properties to the properties of the central accreting black hole thought to drive the jet. Remarkably, the temporal and spectral X-ray and gamma-ray emission characteristics of TeV blazars are very similar, even though the mass estimates of their central black holes differ by up to 1 order of magnitude.
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