We report the results of quasi-simultaneous two-filter optical monitoring of two high-energy peaked blazars, 1ES 1959+650 and 1ES 2344+514, to search for microvariability and short-term variability ...(STV). We carried out optical photometric monitoring of these sources in an alternating sequence of B and R passbands, and have 24 and 19 nights of new data for these two sources, respectively. No genuine microvariability (intranight variability) was detected in either of these sources. This non-detection of intranight variations is in agreement with the conclusions of previous studies that high-energy peaked BL Lacs are intrinsically less variable than low-energy peaked BL Lacs in the optical bands. We also report the results of STV studies for these two sources between 2009 July and 2010 August. Genuine STV is found for the source 1ES 1959+650 but not for 1ES 2344+514. We briefly discuss possible reasons for the difference between the intranight variability behaviour of high- and low-energy peaked blazars.
ABSTRACT
In 2022 the BL Lac object S4 0954+65 underwent a major variability phase, reaching its historical maximum brightness in the optical and γ-ray bands. We present optical photometric and ...polarimetric data acquired by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) Collaboration from 2022 April 6 to July 6. Many episodes of unprecedented fast variability were detected, implying an upper limit to the size of the emitting region as low as $10^{-4}$ parsec. The WEBT data show rapid variability in both the degree and angle of polarization. We analyse different models to explain the polarization behaviour in the framework of a twisting jet model, which assumes that the long-term trend of the flux is produced by variations in the emitting region viewing angle. All the models can reproduce the average trend of the polarization degree, and can account for its general anticorrelation with the flux, but the dispersion of the data requires the presence of intrinsic mechanisms, such as turbulence, shocks, or magnetic reconnection. The WEBT optical data are compared to γ-ray data from the Fermi satellite. These are analysed with both fixed and adaptive binning procedures. We show that the strong correlation between optical and γ-ray data without measurable delay assumes different slopes in faint and high brightness states, and this is compatible with a scenario where in faint states we mainly see the imprint of the geometrical effects, while in bright states the synchrotron self-Compton process dominates.
Context. The FU Orionis candidate V733 Cep was discovered by Roger Persson in 2004. The star is located in the dark cloud L1216 close to the Cepheus OB3 association. Because only a small number of FU ...Orionis stars have been detected to date, photometric and spectral studies of V733 Cep are of great interest. Aims. The studies of the photometrical variability of PMS stars are very important to the understanding of stellar evolution. The main purpose of our study is to construct a long-time light curve of V733 Cep. On the basis of BVRI monitoring we also study the photometric behavior of the star. Methods. We gather data from CCD photometry and archival photographic plates. The photometric BVRI data (Johnson-Cousins system) that we present were collected from June 2008 to October 2009. To facilitate transformation from instrumental measurements to the standard system, fifteen comparison stars in the field of V733 Cep were calibrated in BVRI bands. To construct a historical light curve of V733 Cep, a search for archival photographic observations in the Wide-Field Plate Database was performed. As a result, 192 photographic plates containing the field of V733 Cep were found. Some plates were analyzed at our request to estimate the magnitude of V733 Cep. Results. Our photometric study confirms the affiliation of V733 Cep to the group of FU Orionis objects. An outburst in the optical and a slow rise in brightness during the period 1971–1993 are well documented. During the period 1993–2004, V733 Cep exhibited its maximum brightness and the amplitude of the observed outburst exceeded 4$\fm$5 (R). The BVRI photometric data imply that from February 2007 to October 2009, a slow decrease in brightness of V733 Cep was observed. The observed color evolution of V–I index also suggest that V733 Cep is currently fading. The long-time light curve of V733 Cep is similar to the light curves of other FU Orionis objects.
Optical flux and spectral variability of blazars Gaur, Haritma; Gupta, Alok C.; Strigachev, A. ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
1 October 2012, 20121001, Letnik:
425, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
ABSTRACT
We report the results of optical monitoring for a sample of 11 blazars including 10 BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs) and one flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ). We have measured the multiband ...optical flux and colour variations in these blazars on intraday and short‐term time‐scales of months and have limited data for two more blazars. These photometric observations were made during 2009–2011, using six optical telescopes, four in Bulgaria, one in Greece and one in India. On short‐term time‐scales we found significant flux variations in nine of the sources and colour variations in three of them. Intraday variability was detected on six nights for two sources out of the 18 nights and four sources for which we collected such data. These new optical observations of these blazars plus data from our previous published papers (for three more blazars) were used to analyse their spectral flux distributions in the optical frequency range. Our full sample for this purpose includes six high‐synchrotron‐frequency‐peaked BL Lacs (HSPs), three intermediate‐synchrotron‐frequency‐peaked BL Lacs (ISPs) and six low‐synchrotron‐frequency‐peaked BL Lacs (LSPs; including both BL Lacs and FSRQs). We also investigated the spectral slope variability and found that the average spectral slopes of LSPs show a good accordance with the synchrotron self‐Compton loss dominated model. Our analysis supports previous studies that found that the spectra of the HSPs and FSRQs have significant additional emission components. The spectra of all these HSPs and LSPs get flatter when they become brighter, while for FSRQs the opposite appears to hold. This supports the hypothesis that there is a significant thermal contribution to the optical spectrum for FSRQs.
Context. We extensively observed the prototype blazar, BL Lacertae, in optical and radio bands during an active phase in the period 2010–2013 when the source showed several prominent outbursts. We ...searched for possible correlations and time lags between the optical and radio band flux variations using multi-frequency data to learn about the mechanisms producing variability. Aims. During an active phase of BL Lacertae, we searched for possible correlations and time lags between multi-frequency light curves of several optical and radio bands. We tried to estimate any possible variability timescales and inter-band lags in these bands. Methods. We performed optical observations in B, V, R, and I-bands from seven telescopes in Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, and India and obtained radio data at 36.8, 22.2, 14.5, 8, and 4.8 GHz frequencies from three telescopes in Crimea, Finland, and USA. Results. Significant cross-correlations between optical and radio bands are found in our observations with a delay of cm-fluxes with respect to optical bands of ~250 days. The optical and radio light curves do not show any significant timescales of variability. BL Lacertae showed many optical “mini-flares” on short timescales. Variations on longer term timescales are mildly chromatic with the superposition of many strong optical outbursts. In radio bands, the amplitude of variability is frequency dependent. Flux variations at higher radio frequencies lead the lower frequencies by days or weeks. Conclusions. The optical variations are consistent with being dominated by a geometric scenario where a region of emitting plasma moves along a helical path in a relativistic jet. The frequency dependence of the variability amplitude supports an origin of the observed variations intrinsic to the source.
To search for optical variability on a wide range of time-scales, we have carried out photometric monitoring of two flat spectrum radio quasars, 3C 454.3 and 3C 279, plus one BL Lac, S5 0716+714, all ...of which have been exhibiting remarkably high activity and pronounced variability at all wavelengths. CCD magnitudes in B, V, R, and I passbands were determined for ∼7000 new optical observations from 114 nights made during 2011–2014, with an average length of ∼4 h each, at seven optical telescopes: four in Bulgaria, one in Greece, and two in India. We measured multiband optical flux and colour variations on diverse time-scales. Discrete correlation functions were computed among B, V, R, and I observations, to search for any time delays. We found weak correlations in some cases with no significant time lags. The structure function method was used to estimate any characteristic time-scales of variability. We also investigated the spectral energy distribution of the three blazars using B, V, R, I, J, and K passband data. We found that the sources almost always follow a bluer-when-brighter trend. We discuss possible physical causes of the observed spectral variability.
We have measured multiband optical flux and colour variations for a sample of 12 low-energy peaked blazars (LBLs) on short, day-to-month, time-scales. Our sample contains six BL Lacertae objects (BL ...Lacs) and six flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs). These photometric observations, made during 2008 September to 2009 June, used five optical telescopes, one in India and four in Bulgaria. We detected short-term flux variations in 11 of these blazars and colour variability in eight of them. Our data indicate that six blazars (3C 66A, AO 0235+164, S5 0716+714, PKS 0735+178, OJ 287 and 3C 454.3) were observed in pre- or post-outburst states, five (PKS 0420−014, 4C 29.45, 3C 279, PKS 1510−089 and BL Lac) were in a low state, while one (3C 273) was in an essentially steady state. The duty cycles for flux and colour variations on short time-scales in these LBLs are ∼92 and ∼33 per cent, respectively. The colour versus magnitude correlations seen here support the hypothesis that BL Lac objects tend to become bluer with increase in brightness; however, FSRQs may show the opposite trend, and there are exceptions to these trends in both categories of blazar. We briefly discuss emission models for active galactic nuclei that might explain our results.
ABSTRACT
In this paper we present the results of a short-term optical monitoring program of 13 blazars. The objects were monitored mostly in the R band for a total of ∼160 h between 2006 and 2011. We ...study the nature of the short-term variations and show that most of them could be described as slow, smooth and (almost) linear changes of up to ∼0.1 mag h−1, but that many objects show no short-term variations at all. In fact, we found only a ∼2 per cent chance of observing variability of more than 0.1 mag h−1 for the sample we observed. Hints of quasi-periodic oscillations at very low-amplitude levels are also found for some objects. We briefly discuss some of the possible mechanisms for generating the intra-night variability and the quasi-periodic oscillations.
UX Orionis stars (UXors) are Herbig Ae/Be or T Tauri stars exhibiting sporadic occultation of stellar light by circumstellar dust. GM Cephei is such a UXor in the young (∼4 Myr) open cluster Trumpler ...37, showing prominent infrared excess, emission-line spectra, and flare activity. Our photometric monitoring (2008-2018) detects (1) an ∼3.43 day period, likely arising from rotational modulation by surface starspots, (2) sporadic brightening on timescales of days due to accretion, (3) irregular minor flux drops due to circumstellar dust extinction, and (4) major flux drops, each lasting for a couple of months with a recurrence time, though not exactly periodic, of about two years. The star experiences normal reddening by large grains, i.e., redder when dimmer, but exhibits an unusual "blueing" phenomenon in that the star turns blue near brightness minima. The maximum extinction during relatively short (lasting ≤50 days) events, is proportional to the duration, a consequence of varying clump sizes. For longer events, the extinction is independent of duration, suggestive of a transverse string distribution of clumps. Polarization monitoring indicates an optical polarization varying ∼3%-8%, with the level anticorrelated with the slow brightness change. Temporal variation of the unpolarized and polarized light sets constraints on the size and orbital distance of the circumstellar clumps in the interplay with the young star and scattering envelope. These transiting clumps are edge-on manifestations of the ring- or spiral-like structures found recently in young stars with imaging in infrared of scattered light, or in submillimeter of thermalized dust emission.
ABSTRACT
The object 4C 71.07 is a high-redshift blazar whose spectral energy distribution shows a prominent big blue bump and a strong Compton dominance. We present the results of a 2-yr ...multiwavelength campaign led by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) to study both the quasar core and the beamed jet of this source. The WEBT data are complemented by ultraviolet and X-ray data from Swift, and by γ-ray data by Fermi. The big blue bump is modelled by using optical and near-infrared mean spectra obtained during the campaign, together with optical and ultraviolet quasar templates. We give prescriptions to correct the source photometry in the various bands for the thermal contribution, in order to derive the non-thermal jet flux. The role of the intergalactic medium absorption is analysed in both the ultraviolet and X-ray bands. We provide opacity values to deabsorb ultraviolet data, and derive a best-guess value for the hydrogen column density of $N_{\rm H}^{\rm best}=6.3 \times 10^{20} \rm \, cm^{-2}$ through the analysis of X-ray spectra. We estimate the disc and jet bolometric luminosities, accretion rate, and black hole mass. Light curves do not show persistent correlations among flux changes at different frequencies. We study the polarimetric behaviour and find no correlation between polarization degree and flux, even when correcting for the dilution effect of the big blue bump. Similarly, wide rotations of the electric vector polarization angle do not seem to be connected with the source activity.
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