Title: High-energy sources at low radio frequency: the Murchison Widefield Array view of Fermi blazars

Abstract

Low-frequency radio arrays are opening a new window for the study of the sky, both to study new phenomena and to better characterize known source classes. Being flat-spectrum sources, blazars are so far poorly studied at low radio frequencies. In this paper, we characterize the spectral properties of the blazar population at low radio frequency, compare the radio and high-energy properties of the gamma-ray blazar population, and search for radio counterparts of unidentified gamma-ray sources. We cross-correlated the 6100 deg² Murchison Widefield Array Commissioning Survey catalogue with the Roma blazar catalogue, the third catalogue of active galactic nuclei detected by Fermi-LAT, and the unidentified members of the entire third catalogue of gamma-ray sources detected by Fermi-LAT. When available, we also added high-frequency radio data from the Australia Telescope 20 GHz catalogue. We find low-frequency counterparts for 186 out of 517 (36%) blazars, 79 out of 174 (45%) gamma-ray blazars, and 8 out of 73 (11%) gamma-ray blazar candidates. The mean low-frequency (120–180 MHz) blazar spectral index is (α_low) = 0.57 ± 0.02: blazar spectra are flatter than the rest of the population of low-frequency sources, but are steeper than at ~GHz frequencies. Low-frequency radio flux density and gamma-ray energy fluxmore » display a mildly significant and broadly scattered correlation. Ten unidentified gamma-ray sources have a (probably fortuitous) positional match with low radio frequency sources. Low-frequency radio astronomy provides important information about sources with a flat radio spectrum and high energy. However, the relatively low sensitivity of the present surveys still misses a significant fraction of these objects. Finally, upcoming deeper surveys, such as the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-Sky MWA (GLEAM) survey, will provide further insight into this population.« less

Authors:

Giroletti, M.; Massaro, F.; D’Abrusco, R.; Lico, R.; Burlon, D.; Hurley-Walker, N.; Johnston-Hollitt, M.; Morgan, J.; Pavlidou, V.; Bell, M.; Bernardi, G.; Bhat, R.; Bowman, J. D.; Briggs, F.; Cappallo, R. J.; Corey, B. E.; Deshpande, A. A.; Ewall-Rice, A.; Emrich, D.; Gaensler, B. M. more »; Goeke, R.; Greenhill, L. J.; Hazelton, B. J.; Hindson, L.; Kaplan, D. L.; Kasper, J. C.; Kratzenberg, E.; Feng, L.; Jacobs, D.; Kudryavtseva, N.; Lenc, E.; Lonsdale, C. J.; Lynch, M. J.; McKinley, B.; McWhirter, S. R.; Mitchell, D. A.; Morales, M. F.; Morgan, E.; Oberoi, D.; Offringa, A. R.; Ord, S. M.; Pindor, B.; Prabu, T.; Procopio, P.; Riding, J.; Rogers, A. E. E.; Roshi, A.; Udaya Shankar, N.; Srivani, K. S.; Subrahmanyan, R.; Tingay, S. J.; Waterson, M.; Wayth, R. B.; Webster, R. L.; Whitney, A. R.; Williams, A.; Williams, C. L. « less

Publication Date:

Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016

Research Org.:

National Inst. for Astrophysics (INAF), Bologna (Italy); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE; National Inst. for Astrophysics (INAF) (Italy)

Contributing Org.:

Fermi-LAT Collaboration

OSTI Identifier:

1355690

Grant/Contract Number:  

PRIN-INAF-2011

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 588; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-6361

Publisher:

EDP Sciences

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; BL Lacertae objects; catalogs; gamma rays: galaxies; quasars; non-thermal radiation mechanisms; radio continuum: galaxies