On the Redshift of TeV BL Lac Objects Paiano, Simona; Landoni, Marco; Falomo, Renato ...
Astrophysical journal/The Astrophysical journal,
03/2017, Letnik:
837, Številka:
2
Journal Article
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We report results of a spectroscopic campaign carried out at the 10 m Gran Telescopio Canarias for a sample of 22 BL Lac objects detected (or candidates) at TeV energies, aiming to determine or ...constrain their redshift. This is of fundamental importance for the interpretation of their emission models and for population studies and is also mandatory for studying the interaction of high-energy photons with the extragalactic background light using TeV sources. Optical spectra with high signal-to-noise ratios in the range 4250-10000 Å were obtained to search for faint emission or absorption lines from both the host galaxy and the nucleus. We determine a new redshift for PKS 1424+240 (z = 0.604) and a tentative one for 1ES 0033+595 (z = 0.467). We are able to set new spectroscopic redshift lower limits for three other sources on the basis of Mg ii and Ca ii intervening absorption features: BZB J1243+3627 (z > 0.483), BZB J1540+8155 (z > 0.672), and BZB 0J2323+4210 (z > 0.267). We confirm previous redshift estimates for four blazars: S3 0218+357 (z = 0.944), 1ES 1215+303 (z = 0.129), W Comae (z = 0.102), and MS 1221.8+2452 (z = 0.218). For the remaining targets, in seven cases (S2 0109+22, 3C 66A, VER J0521+211, S4 0954+65, BZB J1120+4214, S3 1227+25, BZB J2323+4210), we do not validate the proposed redshift. Finally, for all sources of still-unknown redshift, we set a lower limit based on the minimum equivalent width of absorption features expected from the host galaxy.
Abstract
In the context of extreme adaptive optics for large telescopes, we present the Kraken multi-frame blind deconvolution (MFBD) algorithm for processing high-cadence acquisitions, capable of ...providing a diffraction-limited estimation of the source brightness distribution. This is achieved by a data modeling of each frame in the sequence driven by the estimation of the instantaneous wave front at the entrance pupil. Under suitable physical constraints, numerical convergence is guaranteed by an iteration scheme starting from a compact MFBD, which provides a very robust initial guess that only employs a few frames. We describe the mathematics behind the process and report the high-resolution reconstruction of the spectroscopic binary
α
And (16.3 mas separation) acquired with the precursor of SHARK-VIS, the upcoming high-contrast camera in the visible for the Large Binocular Telescope.
We present the radio luminosity function (LF) of flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQ), using the the largest and most complete sample to date. Cross-matching between the FIRST 20 cm and GB6 6 cm radio ...surveys, we find 638 flat-spectrum radio sources above 220 mJy at 1.4 GHz; of these, 327 are are classified and verified using optical spectroscopy data, mainly from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12. We also considered flat-spectrum radio sources that lack both literature references and optical spectroscopy, and we identified 12 out of the 43 such sources to potentially be FSRQs, using their WISE colors. From the fully identified sample of 242 FSRQs, we derived the radio LF and cosmic evolution of blazars at 1.4 GHz, finding good agreement with previous work at 5 GHz. The number density of FSRQs increases dramatically to a redshift of z ∼ 2 and then declines for higher redshifts. Furthermore, the redshift at which the quasar density peaks is clearly dependent on luminosity, with more luminous sources peaking at higher redshifts. The approximate best-fit LF for a luminosity-dependent evolutionary model is a broken power-law with slopes ∼0.7 and ∼1.7 below and above the break luminosity, erg s−1, respectively.
The thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect and the X-ray emission offer separate and highly complementary probes of the thermodynamics of the intracluster medium, particularly on their radial ...dependence. We already released JoXSZ, the first publicly available code designed to jointly fit SZ and X-ray data coming from various instruments to derive the thermodynamic radial profiles of galaxy clusters, including mass. JoXSZ follows a fully Bayesian forward-modelling approach, adopts flexible parametrization for the thermodynamic profiles and includes many useful options that users can customize according to their needs. We are including shear measurement in our joint analysis, and moving from single-cluster to multi-cluster analyses, allowing to quantify the heterogeneity of thermodynamic properties within the cluster population. At the same time, we are creating a suitable framework that effciently stores and optimally processes huge volumes of data being released by the current and new generation surveys.
Abstract
Roughly one third of the sources in the Fermi-LAT catalogs are listed as unidentified/unassociated
γ
-ray sources (UGS), i.e., they lack a low-energy counterpart. In addition, there is a ...growing population of blazars of uncertain type (BCUs). Spectroscopic observations are crucial to confirm the blazar nature of the UGSs candidate counterparts and BCUs. Hence, in 2013 we started an optical spectroscopic campaign to carry out the identifications and classifications. In this paper, as a continuation of the campaign we report the spectra of 39 sources: the sample comprises 37 sources classified as BCUs, one source classified as a BL Lac in the Fourth Source Catalog of the Fermi-LAT (4FGL), and one source classified as UGS. We classify 19 of the sources in the sample as BL Lacs, 13 as blazars with nonnegligible host-galaxy emission, six as Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars, and one as a normal elliptical galaxy. The source listed as BL Lac in the 4FGL seems to be a blazar with nonnegligible host-galaxy emission in our observations, most likely due to an ongoing quiescent state. We classified the UGS source as a BL Lac. Six out of the 39 sources were previously reported in the campaign; in general, both the classifications and redshifts are in agreement, except for one of them with no redshift reported before. Altogether, we provided reliable redshift estimates to 21 out of the 39 sources. Finally, we describe the statistics of the data collected in our campaign so far.
ABSTRACT
Very-high-energy (VHE) BL Lacertae (BL Lac) spectra extending above $10 \, \rm TeV$ provide a unique opportunity for testing physics beyond the standard model of elementary particle and ...alternative blazar emission models. We consider the hadron beam scenario, the conversion of photons to axion-like particles (ALPs) and the Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) by analysing their consequences and induced modifications to BL Lac spectra. In particular, we consider how different processes can provide similar spectral features (e.g. hard tails) and we discuss the ways they can be disentangled. We use data from High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy (HEGRA) of a high state of Markarian 501 and the High-Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) spectrum of the extreme BL Lac (EHBL) 1ES 0229+200. In addition, we consider two hypothetical EHBLs similar to 1ES 0229+200 located at redshifts z = 0.3 and z = 0.5. We observe that both the hadron beam and the photon–ALP oscillations predict a hard tail extending to energies larger than those possible in the standard scenario. Photon–ALP interaction predicts a peak in the spectra of distant BL Lacs at about $20\rm {-}30 \, \rm TeV$, while LIV produces a strong peak in all BL Lac spectra around $\sim 100 \, \rm TeV$. The peculiar feature of the photon–ALP conversion model is the production of oscillations in the spectral energy distribution, so that its detection/absence can be exploited to distinguish between the considered models. The above-mentioned features of the three models might be detected by the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array. Thus, future observations of BL Lac spectra could eventually shed light on new physics and alternative blazar emission models, driving fundamental research towards a specific direction.
The Fermi Gamma-ray Observatory discovered about a thousand extragalactic sources emitting energy from 100 MeV to 100 GeV. The majority of these sources belong to the class of blazars characterized ...by a quasi-featureless optical spectrum (BL Lac Objects). This hampers the determination of their redshift and therefore hinders the characterization of this class of objects. To investigate the nature of these sources and to determine their redshift, we are carrying out an extensive campaign using the 10 m Gran Telescopio Canarias to obtain high S/N ratio optical spectra. These observations allow us to confirm the blazar nature of the targets, to find new redshifts or to set stringent limits on the redshift based on the minimum equivalent width of specific absorption features that can be measured in the spectrum and are expected from their host galaxy, assuming it is a massive elliptical galaxy. These results are of importance for the multi-frequencies emission models of the blazars, to test their extreme physics, to shed light on their cosmic evolution and abundance in the far Universe. These gamma emitters are also of great importance for the characterization of the extragalactic background light through the absorption by the IR-optical background photons.
Temporal analysis of blazar flux is a powerful tool to draw inferences about the emission processes and physics of these sources. In the most general case, the available light curves are irregularly ...sampled and influenced by gaps, and in addition are also affected by correlated noise, making their analysis complicated. Gaussian processes may offer a viable tool to assess the statistical significance of proposed periods in light curves characterized by any sampling and noise pattern. We infer the significance of the periods proposed in the literature for two well known blazars with multiple claims of possible year-long periodicity: PG 1553 + 113 and PKS 2155-304, in the high-energy and optical bands. Adding a periodic component to the modeling gives a better statistical description of the analyzed light curves. The improvement is rather solid for PG 1553 + 113, both at high energies and in the optical, while for PKS 2155-304 at high energies the improvement is not yet strong enough to allow cogent claims, and no evidence for periodicity emerged from the analysis in the optical. Modeling a light curve by means of Gaussian processes, in spite of being relatively computationally demanding, allows us to derive a wealth of information about the data under study and suggests an original analysis framework for light curves of astrophysical interest.
We present optical spectra with high signal-to-noise ratio of 10 BL Lac objects detected at GeV energies by the Fermi satellite (3FGL catalog), which previous observations suggested are at relatively ...high redshift. The new observations, obtained at the 10 m Gran Telescopio Canarias, allowed us to find the redshift for J0814.5+2943 (z = 0.703), and we can set a spectroscopic lower limit for J0008.0+4713 (z > 1.659) and J1107.7+0222 (z > 1.0735) on the basis of Mg ii intervening absorption features. In addition we confirm the redshifts for J0505.5+0416 (z = 0.423) and J1450+5200 (z > 2.470). Finally we contradict the previous z estimates for five objects (J0049.7+0237, J0243.5+7119, J0802.0+1005, J1109.4+2411, and J2116.1+3339).
Several observations are revealing the widespread occurrence of mildly relativistic wide-angle AGN winds strongly interacting with the gas of their host galaxy. Such winds are potential cosmic-ray ...accelerators, as supported by gamma-ray observations of the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 with the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope. The non-thermal emission produced by relativistic particles accelerated by the AGN-driven wind observed in the circum-nuclear molecular disk of such galaxy is invoked to produce the gamma-ray spectrum. The AGN wind model predicts a hard spectrum that extend in the very high energy band which differs significantly from those corresponding to other models discussed in the literature, like starburst or AGN jet. We present dedicated simulations of observations through the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the next-generation ground based gamma-ray observatory, of the very high energy spectrum of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 assuming the AGN wind and the AGN jet models. We demonstrate that, considering 50 hours of observations, CTA can be effectively used to constrain the two different emission models, providing important insight into the physics governing the acceleration of particles in non-relativistic AGN-driven outflows. This analysis strongly motivates observations of Seyfert and starburst galaxies with CTA in order to test source population models of the extragalactic gamma-ray and neutrino backgrounds.
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