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.
ABSTRACT
We report on the results of a multiwavelength monitoring campaign of the bright, nearby Seyfert galaxy Ark 120, using a ∼50-d observing programme with Swift and a ∼4-month co-ordinated ...ground-based observing campaign, pre-dominantly using the Skynet Robotic Telescope Network. We find Ark 120 to be variable at all optical, UV, and X-ray wavelengths, with the variability observed to be well correlated between wavelength bands on short time-scales. We perform cross-correlation analysis across all available wavelength bands, detecting time delays between emission in the X-ray band and the Swift V, B, and UVW1 bands. In each case, we find that the longer wavelength emission is delayed with respect to the shorter wavelength emission. Within our measurement uncertainties, the time delays are consistent with the τ ∼ λ4/3 relation, as predicted by a disc reprocessing scenario. The measured lag centroids are τcent = 11.90 ± 7.33, 10.80 ± 4.08, and 10.60 ± 2.87 d between the X-ray and V, B, and UVW1 bands, respectively. These time delays are longer than those expected from standard accretion theory and, as such, Ark 120 may be another example of an active galaxy whose accretion disc appears to exist on a larger scale than predicted by the standard thin-disc model. Additionally, we detect further inter-band time delays: most notably between the ground-based I and B bands (τcent = 3.46 ± 0.86 d), and between both the Swift XRT and UVW1 bands and the I band (τcent = 12.34 ± 4.83 and 2.69 ± 2.05 d, respectively), highlighting the importance of co-ordinated ground-based optical observations.
After several years of quiescence, the blazar CTA 102 underwent an exceptional outburst in 2012 September–October. The flare was tracked from γ-ray to near-infrared (NIR) frequencies, including Fermi ...and Swift data as well as photometric and polarimetric data from several observatories. An intensive Glast-Agile support programme of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (GASP–WEBT) collaboration campaign in optical and NIR bands, with an addition of previously unpublished archival data and extension through fall 2015, allows comparison of this outburst with the previous activity period of this blazar in 2004–2005. We find remarkable similarity between the optical and γ-ray behaviour of CTA 102 during the outburst, with a time lag between the two light curves of ≈1 h, indicative of cospatiality of the optical and γ-ray emission regions. The relation between the γ-ray and optical fluxes is consistent with the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) mechanism, with a quadratic dependence of the SSC γ-ray flux on the synchrotron optical flux evident in the post-outburst stage. However, the γ-ray/optical relationship is linear during the outburst; we attribute this to changes in the Doppler factor. A strong harder-when-brighter spectral dependence is seen both the in γ-ray and optical non-thermal emission. This hardening can be explained by convexity of the UV–NIR spectrum that moves to higher frequencies owing to an increased Doppler shift as the viewing angle decreases during the outburst stage. The overall pattern of Stokes parameter variations agrees with a model of a radiating blob or shock wave that moves along a helical path down the jet.
ABSTRACT
Here we report on the results of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope photo-polarimetric campaign targeting the blazar S5 0716+71, organized in 2014 March to monitor the source simultaneously in
...BVRI
and near-IR filters. The campaign resulted in an unprecedented data set spanning ∼110 hr of nearly continuous, multiband observations, including two sets of densely sampled polarimetric data mainly in the
R
filter. During the campaign, the source displayed pronounced variability with peak-to-peak variations of about 30% and “bluer-when-brighter” spectral evolution, consisting of a day-timescale modulation with superimposed hour-long microflares characterized by ∼0.1 mag flux changes. We performed an in-depth search for quasi-periodicities in the source light curve; hints for the presence of oscillations on timescales of ∼3 and ∼5 hr do not represent highly significant departures from a pure red-noise power spectrum. We observed that, at a certain configuration of the optical polarization angle (PA) relative to the PA of the innermost radio jet in the source, changes in the polarization degree (PD) led the total flux variability by about 2 hr; meanwhile, when the relative configuration of the polarization and jet angles altered, no such lag could be noted. The microflaring events, when analyzed as separate pulse emission components, were found to be characterized by a very high PD (>30%) and PAs that differed substantially from the PA of the underlying background component, or from the radio jet positional angle. We discuss the results in the general context of blazar emission and energy dissipation models.
2I/Borisov is the first interstellar comet discovered on 2019 August 30, and it soon showed a coma and a dust tail. This study reports the results of images obtained at the Telescopio Nazionale ...Galileo telescope, on La Palma-Canary Islands, in 2019 November and December. The images have been obtained with the R filter in order to apply our dust tail model. The model has been applied to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and compared to the Rosetta dust measurements showing a very good agreement. It has been applied to the comet 2I/Borisov, using almost the same parameters, obtaining a dust environment similar to that of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, suggesting that the activity may be very similar. The dust tail analysis provided a dust-loss rate Qd 35 kg s−1 in 2019 November and Qd 30 kg s−1 in 2019 December.
The occurrence of low-amplitude flux variations in blazars on hourly timescales, commonly known as microvariability, is still a widely debated subject in high-energy astrophysics. Several competing ...scenarios have been proposed to explain such occurrences, including various jet plasma instabilities leading to the formation of shocks, magnetic reconnection sites, and turbulence. In this Letter, we present the results of our detailed investigation of a prominent, five-hour-long optical microflare detected during the recent WEBT campaign on 2014 March 2-6 targeting the blazar 0716+714. After separating the flaring component from the underlying base emission continuum of the blazar, we find that the microflare is highly polarized, with the polarization degree ~(40-60)% + or - (2-10)% and the electric vector position angle ~(10-20)degrees + or - (1-8)degrees slightly misaligned with respect to the position angle of the radio jet. The microflare evolution in the (Q,U) Stokes parameter space exhibits a looping behavior with a counterclockwise rotation, meaning the polarization degree decreases with the flux (but is higher in the flux decaying phase), and an approximately stable polarization angle. The overall very high polarization degree of the flare, its symmetric flux rise and decay profiles, and also its structured evolution in the Q-U plane all imply that the observed flux variation corresponds to a single emission region characterized by a highly ordered magnetic field. As discussed in the paper, a small-scale but strong shock propagating within the outflow, and compressing a disordered magnetic field component, provides a natural, though not unique, interpretation of our findings.
Context. The international Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) consortium planned and carried out three days of intensive micro-variability observations of S5 0716 + 714 from February 22, 2009 to ...February 25, 2009. This object was chosen due to its bright apparent magnitude range, its high declination, and its very large duty cycle for micro-variations. Aims. We report here on the long continuous optical micro-variability light curve of 0716+714 obtained during the multi-site observing campaign during which the Blazar showed almost constant variability over a 0.5 mag range. The resulting light curve is presented here for the first time. Observations from participating observatories were corrected for instrumental differences and combined to construct the overall smoothed light curve. Methods. Thirty-six observatories in sixteen countries participated in this continuous monitoring program and twenty of them submitted data for compilation into a continuous light curve. The light curve was analyzed using several techniques including Fourier transform, Wavelet and noise analysis techniques. Those results led us to model the light curve by attributing the variations to a series of synchrotron pulses. Results. We have interpreted the observed microvariations in this extended light curve in terms of a new model consisting of individual stochastic pulses due to cells in a turbulent jet which are energized by a passing shock and cool by means of synchrotron emission. We obtained an excellent fit to the 72-hour light curve with the synchrotron pulse model.
Context. After years of modest optical activity, the quasar-type blazar 4C 38.41 (B3 1633+382) experienced a large outburst in 2011, which was detected throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum, ...renewing interest in this source. Aims. We present the results of low-energy multifrequency monitoring by the GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) consortium and collaborators, as well as those of spectropolarimetric/spectrophotometric monitoring at the Steward Observatory. We also analyse high-energy observations of the Swift and Fermi satellites. This combined study aims to provide insights into the source broad-band emission and variability properties. Methods. We assemble optical, near-infrared, millimetre, and radio light curves and investigate their features and correlations. In the optical, we also analyse the spectroscopic and polarimetric properties of the source. We then compare the low-energy emission behaviour with that at high energies. Results. In the optical-UV band, several results indicate that there is a contribution from a quasi-stellar-object (QSO) like emission component, in addition to both variable and polarised jet emission. In the optical, the source is redder-when-brighter, at least for R ≳ 16. The optical spectra display broad emission lines, whose flux is constant in time. The observed degree of polarisation increases with flux and is higher in the red than the blue. The spectral energy distribution reveals a bump peaking around the U band. The unpolarised emission component is likely thermal radiation from the accretion disc that dilutes the jet polarisation. We estimate its brightness to be RQSO ~ 17.85–18 and derive the intrinsic jet polarisation degree. We find no clear correlation between the optical and radio light curves, while the correlation between the optical and γ-ray flux apparently fades in time, likely because of an increasing optical to γ-ray flux ratio. Conclusions. As suggested for other blazars, the long-term variability of 4C 38.41 can be interpreted in terms of an inhomogeneous bent jet, where different emitting regions can change their alignment with respect to the line of sight, leading to variations in the Doppler factor δ. Under the hypothesis that in the period 2008–2011 all the γ-ray and optical variability on a one-week timescale were due to changes in δ, this would range between ~7 and ~21. If the variability were caused by changes in the viewing angle θ only, then θ would go from ~2.6° to ~5°. Variations in the viewing angle would also account for the dependence of the polarisation degree on the source brightness in the framework of a shock-in-jet model.
Aims. Since the CGRO operation in 1991–2000, one of the primary unresolved questions about the blazar γ-ray emission has been its possible correlation with the low-energy (in particular optical) ...emission. To help answer this problem, the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) consortium has organized the GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) to provide the optical-to-radio monitoring data to be compared with the γ-ray detections by the AGILE and GLAST satellites. This new WEBT project started in early September 2007, just before a strong γ-ray detection of 0716+714 by AGILE. Methods. We present the GASP-WEBT optical and radio light curves of this blazar obtained in July–November 2007, about various AGILE pointings at the source. We construct NIR-to-UV spectral energy distributions (SEDs), by assembling GASP-WEBT data together with UV data from the Swift ToO observations of late October. Results. We observe a contemporaneous optical-radio outburst, which is a rare and interesting phenomenon in blazars. The shape of the SEDs during the outburst appears peculiarly wavy because of an optical excess and a UV drop-and-rise. The optical light curve is well sampled during the AGILE pointings, showing prominent and sharp flares. A future cross-correlation analysis of the optical and AGILE data will shed light on the expected relationship between these flares and the γ-ray events.
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