The blazar AO 0235+164 (z = 0.94) has been one of the most active objects observed by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) since its launch in Summer 2008. In addition to the continuous coverage by Fermi, contemporaneous observations were carried out from the radio to γ-ray bands between 2008 September and 2009 February.Here, we summarize the rich multi-wavelength data collected during the campaign (including F-GAMMA, GASP-WEBT, Kanata, OVRO, RXTE, SMARTS, Swift, and other instruments), examine the cross-correlation between the light curves measured in the different energy bands, and interpret the resulting spectral energy distributions in the context of well-known blazar emission models. We also find that the γ-ray activity is well correlated with a series of near-IR/optical flares, accompanied by an increase in the optical polarization degree. On the other hand, the X-ray light curve shows a distinct 20 day high state of unusually soft spectrum, which does not match the extrapolation of the optical/UV synchrotron spectrum. We tentatively interpret this feature as the bulk Compton emission by cold electrons contained in the jet, which requires an accretion disk corona with an effective covering factor of 19% at a distance of 100 R g. Finally, we model the broadband spectra with a leptonic model with external radiation dominated by the infrared emission from the dusty torus.
Ackermann, M., et al. "Multi-wavelength observations of blazar AO 0235+164 in the 2008-2009 flaring state." The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 751, no. 2, May. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/751/2/159
Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bellazzini, R., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., Bonamente, E., Borgland, A. W., Bottacini, E., Bregeon, J., Brigida, M., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., ... Stroh, M. (2012). Multi-wavelength observations of blazar AO 0235+164 in the 2008-2009 flaring state. The Astrophysical Journal, 751(2). https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/751/2/159
Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Ballet, J., et al., "Multi-wavelength observations of blazar AO 0235+164 in the 2008-2009 flaring state," The Astrophysical Journal 751, no. 2 (2012), https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/751/2/159
@article{osti_1356726,
author = {Ackermann, M. and Ajello, M. and Ballet, J. and Barbiellini, G. and Bastieri, D. and Bellazzini, R. and Blandford, R. D. and Bloom, E. D. and Bonamente, E. and Borgland, A. W. and others},
title = {Multi-wavelength observations of blazar AO 0235+164 in the 2008-2009 flaring state},
annote = {The blazar AO 0235+164 (z = 0.94) has been one of the most active objects observed by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) since its launch in Summer 2008. In addition to the continuous coverage by Fermi, contemporaneous observations were carried out from the radio to γ-ray bands between 2008 September and 2009 February.Here, we summarize the rich multi-wavelength data collected during the campaign (including F-GAMMA, GASP-WEBT, Kanata, OVRO, RXTE, SMARTS, Swift, and other instruments), examine the cross-correlation between the light curves measured in the different energy bands, and interpret the resulting spectral energy distributions in the context of well-known blazar emission models. We also find that the γ-ray activity is well correlated with a series of near-IR/optical flares, accompanied by an increase in the optical polarization degree. On the other hand, the X-ray light curve shows a distinct 20 day high state of unusually soft spectrum, which does not match the extrapolation of the optical/UV synchrotron spectrum. We tentatively interpret this feature as the bulk Compton emission by cold electrons contained in the jet, which requires an accretion disk corona with an effective covering factor of 19% at a distance of 100 R g. Finally, we model the broadband spectra with a leptonic model with external radiation dominated by the infrared emission from the dusty torus.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/751/2/159},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1356726},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {ISSN 0004-637X},
number = {2},
volume = {751},
place = {United States},
publisher = {Institute of Physics (IOP)},
year = {2012},
month = {05}}