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Title: A peculiar multiwavelength flare in the blazar 3C 454.3

Abstract

The blazar 3C 454.3 exhibited a strong flare seen in γ-rays, X-rays and optical/near-infrared bands during 2009 December 3–12. Emission in the V and J bands rose more gradually than did the γ-rays and soft X-rays, though all peaked at nearly the same time. Optical polarization measurements showed dramatic changes during the flare, with a strong anticorrelation between optical flux and degree of polarization (which rose from ~3 to ~20 percent) during the declining phase of the flare. The flare was accompanied by large rapid swings in polarization angle of ~170°. This combination of behaviours appears to be unique. We have cm-band radio data during the same period but they show no correlation with variations at higher frequencies. Such peculiar behaviour may be explained using jet models incorporating fully relativistic effects with a dominant source region moving along a helical path or by a shock-in-jet model incorporating three-dimensional radiation transfer if there is a dominant helical magnetic field. We find that spectral energy distributions at different times during the flare can be fit using modified one-zone models where only the magnetic field strength and particle break frequencies and normalizations need change. An optical spectrum taken at nearly the same timemore » provides an estimate for the central black hole mass of ~2.3 × 109 M. Furthermore, we also consider two weaker flares seen during the ~200 d span over which multiband data are available. In one of them, the V and J bands appear to lead the γ-ray and X-ray bands by a few days; in the other, all variations are simultaneous.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [5];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [5];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [13];  [14];  [14];  [15];  [16];  [15] more »;  [15];  [16];  [17] « less
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai (China); Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital (India)
  2. Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore (India)
  3. The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  4. Univ. of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo (Brazil)
  5. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai (China)
  6. Ohio Univ., Athens, OH (United States)
  7. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai (China); Univ. of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing (China)
  8. Inter Univ. Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune (India)
  9. Peking Univ., Beijing (China)
  10. Hiroshima Univ., Higashi-Hiroshima (Japan)
  11. Kyoto Univ., Kyoto (Japan)
  12. Radio Astronomy Lab. of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Crimea (Ukraine); Taras Shevchenko National Univ. of Kyiv, Kiev (Ukraine)
  13. Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital (India)
  14. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  15. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia (Bulgaria)
  16. Aalto Univ., Aalto (Finland)
  17. Radio Astronomy Lab. of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Crimea (Ukraine); Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kiev (Ukraine)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1410601
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-76SF00515
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 472; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0035-8711
Publisher:
Royal Astronomical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; BL Lacertae objects: general; galaxies:active; quasars: individual: 3C 454.3

Citation Formats

Gupta, Alok C., Mangalam, Arun, Wiita, Paul J., Kushwaha, P., Gaur, H., Zhang, H., Gu, M. F., Liao, M., Dewangan, G. C., Ho, L. C., Mohan, P., Umeura, M., Sasada, M., Volvach, A. E., Agarwal, A., Aller, M. F., Aller, H. D., Bachev, R., Lähteenmäki, A., Semkov, E., Strigachev, A., Tornikoski, M., and Volvach, L. N. A peculiar multiwavelength flare in the blazar 3C 454.3. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1093/mnras/stx2072.
Gupta, Alok C., Mangalam, Arun, Wiita, Paul J., Kushwaha, P., Gaur, H., Zhang, H., Gu, M. F., Liao, M., Dewangan, G. C., Ho, L. C., Mohan, P., Umeura, M., Sasada, M., Volvach, A. E., Agarwal, A., Aller, M. F., Aller, H. D., Bachev, R., Lähteenmäki, A., Semkov, E., Strigachev, A., Tornikoski, M., & Volvach, L. N. A peculiar multiwavelength flare in the blazar 3C 454.3. United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2072
Gupta, Alok C., Mangalam, Arun, Wiita, Paul J., Kushwaha, P., Gaur, H., Zhang, H., Gu, M. F., Liao, M., Dewangan, G. C., Ho, L. C., Mohan, P., Umeura, M., Sasada, M., Volvach, A. E., Agarwal, A., Aller, M. F., Aller, H. D., Bachev, R., Lähteenmäki, A., Semkov, E., Strigachev, A., Tornikoski, M., and Volvach, L. N. Mon . "A peculiar multiwavelength flare in the blazar 3C 454.3". United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2072. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1410601.
@article{osti_1410601,
title = {A peculiar multiwavelength flare in the blazar 3C 454.3},
author = {Gupta, Alok C. and Mangalam, Arun and Wiita, Paul J. and Kushwaha, P. and Gaur, H. and Zhang, H. and Gu, M. F. and Liao, M. and Dewangan, G. C. and Ho, L. C. and Mohan, P. and Umeura, M. and Sasada, M. and Volvach, A. E. and Agarwal, A. and Aller, M. F. and Aller, H. D. and Bachev, R. and Lähteenmäki, A. and Semkov, E. and Strigachev, A. and Tornikoski, M. and Volvach, L. N.},
abstractNote = {The blazar 3C 454.3 exhibited a strong flare seen in γ-rays, X-rays and optical/near-infrared bands during 2009 December 3–12. Emission in the V and J bands rose more gradually than did the γ-rays and soft X-rays, though all peaked at nearly the same time. Optical polarization measurements showed dramatic changes during the flare, with a strong anticorrelation between optical flux and degree of polarization (which rose from ~3 to ~20 percent) during the declining phase of the flare. The flare was accompanied by large rapid swings in polarization angle of ~170°. This combination of behaviours appears to be unique. We have cm-band radio data during the same period but they show no correlation with variations at higher frequencies. Such peculiar behaviour may be explained using jet models incorporating fully relativistic effects with a dominant source region moving along a helical path or by a shock-in-jet model incorporating three-dimensional radiation transfer if there is a dominant helical magnetic field. We find that spectral energy distributions at different times during the flare can be fit using modified one-zone models where only the magnetic field strength and particle break frequencies and normalizations need change. An optical spectrum taken at nearly the same time provides an estimate for the central black hole mass of ~2.3 × 109 M⊙. Furthermore, we also consider two weaker flares seen during the ~200 d span over which multiband data are available. In one of them, the V and J bands appear to lead the γ-ray and X-ray bands by a few days; in the other, all variations are simultaneous.},
doi = {10.1093/mnras/stx2072},
journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
number = 1,
volume = 472,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Aug 14 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Mon Aug 14 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Long-term optical spectroscopic variations in blazar 3C 454.3
journal, October 2019


Multiband optical flux density and polarization microvariability study of optically bright blazars
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Temporal correlation between the optical and γ-ray flux variations in the blazar 3C 454.3
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Characterizing Optical Variability of OJ 287 in 2016–2017
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Long-term Variability and Correlation Study of the Blazar 3C 454.3 in the Radio, NIR, and Optical Wavebands
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Characterizing optical variability of OJ 287 in 2016 - 2017
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Multiband optical flux density and polarization microvariability study of optically bright blazars
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