Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Time correlation between the radio and gamma-ray activity in blazars and the production site of the gamma-ray emission

Abstract

In order to determine the location of the gamma-ray emission site in blazars, we investigate the time-domain relationship between their radio and gamma-ray emission. Light-curves for the brightest detected blazars from the first 3 years of the mission of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are cross-correlated with 4 years of 15GHz observations from the OVRO 40-m monitoring program. The large sample and long light-curve duration enable us to carry out a statistically robust analysis of the significance of the cross-correlations, which is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations including the uneven sampling and noise properties of the light-curves. Modeling the light-curves as red noise processes with power-law power spectral densities, we find that only one of 41 sources with high quality data in both bands shows correlations with significance larger than 3σ (AO0235+164), with only two more larger than even 2.25σ (PKS 1502+106 and B2 2308+34). Additionally, we find correlated variability in Mrk 421 when including a strong flare that occurred in July-September 2012. These results demonstrate very clearly the difficulty of measuring statistically robust multiwavelength correlations and the care needed when comparing light-curves even when many years of data are used. This should be a caution. In all four sourcesmore » the radio variations lag the gamma-ray variations, suggesting that the gamma-ray emission originates upstream of the radio emission. Continuous simultaneous monitoring over a longer time period is required to obtain high significance levels in cross-correlations between gamma-ray and radio variability in most blazars.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [4];  [4];  [6];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [6]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Socorro, NM
  2. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); Aalto Univ., Kylmala (Finland). Metsahovi Radio Observatory
  3. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  4. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
  5. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); Univ. of Concepcion (Chile)
  6. Max Planck Inst. for Radioastronomy, Bonn (Germany)
  7. Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom)
  8. Max Planck Inst. for Radioastronomy, Bonn (Germany); California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); Univ. of Crete (Greece)
  9. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1356451
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-76SF00515
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 445; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0035-8711
Publisher:
Royal Astronomical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

Citation Formats

Max-Moerbeck, W., Hovatta, T., Richards, J. L., King, O. G., Pearson, T. J., Readhead, A. C. S., Reeves, R., Shepherd, M. C., Stevenson, M. A., Angelakis, E., Fuhrmann, L., Grainge, K. J. B., Pavlidou, V., Romani, R. W., and Zensus, J. A. Time correlation between the radio and gamma-ray activity in blazars and the production site of the gamma-ray emission. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu1749.
Copy to clipboard
Max-Moerbeck, W., Hovatta, T., Richards, J. L., King, O. G., Pearson, T. J., Readhead, A. C. S., Reeves, R., Shepherd, M. C., Stevenson, M. A., Angelakis, E., Fuhrmann, L., Grainge, K. J. B., Pavlidou, V., Romani, R. W., & Zensus, J. A. Time correlation between the radio and gamma-ray activity in blazars and the production site of the gamma-ray emission. United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu1749
Copy to clipboard
Max-Moerbeck, W., Hovatta, T., Richards, J. L., King, O. G., Pearson, T. J., Readhead, A. C. S., Reeves, R., Shepherd, M. C., Stevenson, M. A., Angelakis, E., Fuhrmann, L., Grainge, K. J. B., Pavlidou, V., Romani, R. W., and Zensus, J. A. Mon . "Time correlation between the radio and gamma-ray activity in blazars and the production site of the gamma-ray emission". United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu1749. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1356451.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1356451,
title = {Time correlation between the radio and gamma-ray activity in blazars and the production site of the gamma-ray emission},
author = {Max-Moerbeck, W. and Hovatta, T. and Richards, J. L. and King, O. G. and Pearson, T. J. and Readhead, A. C. S. and Reeves, R. and Shepherd, M. C. and Stevenson, M. A. and Angelakis, E. and Fuhrmann, L. and Grainge, K. J. B. and Pavlidou, V. and Romani, R. W. and Zensus, J. A.},
abstractNote = {In order to determine the location of the gamma-ray emission site in blazars, we investigate the time-domain relationship between their radio and gamma-ray emission. Light-curves for the brightest detected blazars from the first 3 years of the mission of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are cross-correlated with 4 years of 15GHz observations from the OVRO 40-m monitoring program. The large sample and long light-curve duration enable us to carry out a statistically robust analysis of the significance of the cross-correlations, which is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations including the uneven sampling and noise properties of the light-curves. Modeling the light-curves as red noise processes with power-law power spectral densities, we find that only one of 41 sources with high quality data in both bands shows correlations with significance larger than 3σ (AO0235+164), with only two more larger than even 2.25σ (PKS 1502+106 and B2 2308+34). Additionally, we find correlated variability in Mrk 421 when including a strong flare that occurred in July-September 2012. These results demonstrate very clearly the difficulty of measuring statistically robust multiwavelength correlations and the care needed when comparing light-curves even when many years of data are used. This should be a caution. In all four sources the radio variations lag the gamma-ray variations, suggesting that the gamma-ray emission originates upstream of the radio emission. Continuous simultaneous monitoring over a longer time period is required to obtain high significance levels in cross-correlations between gamma-ray and radio variability in most blazars.},
doi = {10.1093/mnras/stu1749},
journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
number = 1,
volume = 445,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Sep 22 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Mon Sep 22 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu1749
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 99 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

GAMMA-RAY LIGHT CURVES AND VARIABILITY OF BRIGHT FERMI -DETECTED BLAZARS
journal, September 2010

THE FIRST FERMI MULTIFREQUENCY CAMPAIGN ON BL LACERTAE: CHARACTERIZING THE LOW-ACTIVITY STATE OF THE EPONYMOUS BLAZAR
journal, March 2011

THE RADIO/GAMMA-RAY CONNECTION IN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI IN THE ERA OF THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE
journal, October 2011

THE SECOND CATALOG OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI DETECTED BY THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE
journal, December 2011

On the Location of the γ-Ray Outburst Emission in the bl Lacertae Object ao 0235+164 Through Observations Across the Electromagnetic Spectrum
journal, June 2011

Correlated X-ray/optical variability in the quasar MR 2251−178
journal, September 2008

The Structure of the m87 jet: a Transition from Parabolic to Conical Streamlines
journal, January 2012

Relativistic jets as compact radio sources
journal, August 1979

  • Blandford, R. D.; Konigl, A.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 232
  • DOI: 10.1086/157262

Pair cascades in extragalactic jets. 1: Gamma rays
journal, March 1995

  • Blandford, R. D.; Levinson, A.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 441
  • DOI: 10.1086/175338

Comptonization of Infrared Radiation from Hot Dust by Relativistic Jets in Quasars
journal, December 2000

  • Błażejowski, M.; Sikora, M.; Moderski, R.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 545, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1086/317791

Correlated Multi–Wave Band Variability in the Blazar 3C 279 from 1996 to 2007
journal, December 2008

  • Chatterjee, Ritaban; Jorstad, Svetlana G.; Marscher, Alan P.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 689, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1086/592598

Model for the High-Energy Emission from Blazars
journal, October 1993

  • Dermer, Charles D.; Schlickeiser, Reinhard
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 416
  • DOI: 10.1086/173251

The discrete correlation function - A new method for analyzing unevenly sampled variability data
journal, October 1988

  • Edelson, R. A.; Krolik, J. H.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 333
  • DOI: 10.1086/166773

Multiwavelength monitoring of the BL Lacertae object PKS 2155-304. 4: Multiwavelength analysis
journal, January 1995

  • Edelson, R.; Krolik, J.; Madejski, G.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 438
  • DOI: 10.1086/175059

Detection of significant cm to sub-mm band radio and  -ray correlated variability in Fermi bright blazars
journal, May 2014

  • Fuhrmann, L.; Larsson, S.; Chiang, J.
  • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 441, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stu540

CGRaBS: An All‐Sky Survey of Gamma‐Ray Blazar Candidates
journal, March 2008

  • Healey, Stephen E.; Romani, Roger W.; Cotter, Garret
  • The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 175, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1086/523302

Doppler factors, Lorentz factors and viewing angles for quasars, BL Lacertae objects and radio galaxies
journal, November 2008

Optical and radio variability in blazars
journal, February 1992

  • Hufnagel, Beth R.; Bregman, Joel N.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 386
  • DOI: 10.1086/171033

Physics of Compact Nonthermal Sources. Theory of Radiation Processes
journal, March 1974

  • Jones, T. W.; O'dell, S. L.; Stein, W. A.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 188
  • DOI: 10.1086/152724

Multiepoch Very Long Baseline Array Observations of EGRET‐detected Quasars and BL Lacertae Objects: Connection between Superluminal Ejections and Gamma‐Ray Flares in Blazars
journal, August 2001

  • Jorstad, Svetlana G.; Marscher, Alan P.; Mattox, John R.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 556, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1086/321605

SEVEN-YEAR WILKINSON MICROWAVE ANISOTROPY PROBE ( WMAP ) OBSERVATIONS: COSMOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION
journal, January 2011

  • Komatsu, E.; Smith, K. M.; Dunkley, J.
  • The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 192, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/192/2/18

Sub-Milliarcsecond Imaging of Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei. IV. Fine-Scale Structure
journal, December 2005

  • Kovalev, Y. Y.; Kellermann, K. I.; Lister, M. L.
  • The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 130, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1086/497430

The Relation Between agn Gamma-Ray Emission and Parsec-Scale Radio jets
journal, April 2009

VLBA monitoring of Mrk 421 at 15 GHz and 24 GHz during 2011
journal, September 2012

Mojave: Monitoring of jets in Active Galactic Nuclei with vlba Experiments. vi. Kinematics Analysis of a Complete Sample of Blazar jets
journal, November 2009

HIGH-FREQUENCY RADIO PROPERTIES OF SOURCES IN THE FERMI -LAT 1 YEAR POINT SOURCE CATALOG
journal, July 2010

The inner jet of an active galactic nucleus as revealed by a radio-to-γ-ray outburst
journal, April 2008

  • Marscher, Alan P.; Jorstad, Svetlana G.; D’Arcangelo, Francesca D.
  • Nature, Vol. 452, Issue 7190
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature06895

The Likelihood Analysis of EGRET Data
journal, April 1996

  • Mattox, J. R.; Bertsch, D. L.; Chiang, J.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 461
  • DOI: 10.1086/177068

Correlation between Fermi /LAT gamma-ray and 37 GHz radio properties of northern AGN averaged over 11 months
journal, November 2011

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE SECOND SOURCE CATALOG
journal, March 2012

  • Nolan, P. L.; Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.
  • The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 199, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/199/2/31

Assessing the Significance of Apparent Correlations Between Radio and Gamma-Ray Blazar Fluxes
journal, May 2012

On Uncertainties in Cross‐Correlation Lags and the Reality of Wavelength‐dependent Continuum Lags in Active Galactic Nuclei
journal, June 1998

  • Peterson, Bradley M. ; Wanders, Ignaz ; Horne, Keith 
  • Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 110, Issue 748
  • DOI: 10.1086/316177

Jet opening angles and gamma-ray brightness of AGN
journal, October 2009

Radio/Gamma-Ray time Delay in the Parsec-Scale Cores of Active Galactic Nuclei
journal, September 2010

BLAZARS IN THE FERMI ERA: THE OVRO 40 m TELESCOPE MONITORING PROGRAM
journal, May 2011

  • Richards, Joseph L.; Max-Moerbeck, Walter; Pavlidou, Vasiliki
  • The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 194, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/194/2/29

Comptonization of diffuse ambient radiation by a relativistic jet: The source of gamma rays from blazars?
journal, January 1994

  • Sikora, Marek; Begelman, Mitchell C.; Rees, Martin J.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 421
  • DOI: 10.1086/173633

Measuring the broad-band power spectra of active galactic nuclei with RXTE
journal, May 2002

Correlated Long-Term Optical and X-Ray Variations in NGC 5548
journal, February 2003

  • Uttley, Philip; Edelson, Rick; McHardy, Ian M.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 584, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1086/373887

High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from Active Galaxies: EGRET Observations and Their Implications
journal, February 1995

  • von Montigny, C.; Bertsch, D. L.; Chiang, J.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 440
  • DOI: 10.1086/175294

On the Reliability of Cross‐Correlation Function Lag Determinations in Active Galactic Nuclei
journal, November 1999

  • Welsh, W. F.
  • Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 111, Issue 765
  • DOI: 10.1086/316457
    Sort by:
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Magnetoluminescence
    book, January 2017

    • Blandford, R.; Yuan, Y.; Hoshino, M.
    • Jets and Winds in Pulsar Wind Nebulae, Gamma-Ray Bursts and Blazars
    • DOI: 10.1007/978-94-024-1292-5_9

    Active galactic nuclei: what’s in a name?
    journal, August 2017

    • Padovani, P.; Alexander, D. M.; Assef, R. J.
    • The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, Vol. 25, Issue 1
    • DOI: 10.1007/s00159-017-0102-9

    Magnetoluminescence
    journal, June 2017

    Long-term multi-wavelength variability and correlation study of Markarian 421 from 2007 to 2009
    journal, September 2016

    Long-term optical monitoring of TeV emitting blazars: I. Data analysis⋆
    journal, December 2018

    Resolving the High-Energy Universe with Strong Gravitational Lensing: the case of pks 1830–211
    journal, August 2015

    • Barnacka, Anna; Geller, Margaret J.; Dell’Antonio, Ian P.
    • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 809, Issue 1
    • DOI: 10.1088/0004-637x/809/1/100

    Long-term Multiband Study of High-redshift Blazar S5 0836+71
    journal, December 2018

    • Yang, Jianping; Yang, Chuyuan; Zhou, Bing
    • Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 131, Issue 995
    • DOI: 10.1088/1538-3873/aaeae6

    A flat-spectrum flare in S4 0444+63 revealed by a new implementation of multiwavelength single-dish observations
    journal, January 2020

    • Giroletti, M.; Righini, S.
    • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 492, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staa042

    Gamma-ray observations of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei
    journal, January 2020

    • de Menezes, Raniere; Nemmen, Rodrigo; Finke, Justin D.
    • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 492, Issue 3
    • DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staa083

    Radio follow-up of the γ-ray flaring gravitational lens JVAS B0218+357
    journal, February 2016

    • Spingola, C.; Dallacasa, D.; Orienti, M.
    • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 457, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw136

    Exploring the nature of the 2016 γ-ray emission in the blazar 1749+096
    journal, July 2018

    • Kim, Dae-Won; Trippe, Sascha; Lee, Sang-Sung
    • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 480, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sty1993

    Multiwavelength cross-correlations and flaring activity in bright blazars
    journal, August 2018

    • Liodakis, I.; Romani, R. W.; Filippenko, A. V.
    • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 480, Issue 4
    • DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sty2264

    A revised lens time delay for JVAS B0218+357 from a reanalysis of VLA monitoring data
    journal, March 2018

    • Biggs, A. D.; Browne, I. W. A.
    • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 476, Issue 4
    • DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sty565

    The presence of interstellar scintillation in the 15 GHz interday variability of 1158 OVRO-monitored blazars
    journal, September 2019

    • Koay, J. Y.; Jauncey, D. L.; Hovatta, T.
    • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 489, Issue 4
    • DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stz2488

    Correlation between γ-ray and radio emissions in Fermi blazars
    journal, December 2014

    • Wu, De-Xiang; Fan, Jun-Hui; Liu, Yi
    • Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, Vol. 66, Issue 6
    • DOI: 10.1093/pasj/psu111

    On the Connection of Radio and γ-Ray Emission in Blazars
    journal, December 2018

    • Boula, Stella; Petropoulou, Maria; Mastichiadis, Apostolos
    • Galaxies, Vol. 7, Issue 1
    • DOI: 10.3390/galaxies7010003

    3C 84: Observational Evidence for Precession and a Possible Relation to TeV Emission
    journal, August 2019

    4.5 Years of Multi-Wavelength Observations of mrk 421 During the Argo-Ybj and Fermi Common Operation time
    journal, January 2016

    • Bartoli, B.; Bernardini, P.; Bi, X. J.
    • The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 222, Issue 1
    • DOI: 10.3847/0067-0049/222/1/6

    DISCOVERY OF γ -RAY EMISSION FROM THE RADIO-INTERMEDIATE QUASAR III ZW 2: VIOLENT JET ACTIVITY WITH INTRADAY γ -RAY VARIABILITY
    journal, October 2016

    • Liao, Neng-Hui; Xin, Yu-Liang; Fan, Xu-Liang
    • The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 226, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.3847/0067-0049/226/2/17

    Kinematics of Parsec-scale Jets of Gamma-Ray Blazars at 43 GHz within the VLBA-BU-BLAZAR Program
    journal, September 2017

    • Jorstad, Svetlana G.; Marscher, Alan P.; Morozova, Daria A.
    • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 846, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa8407

    Signatures of the Disk–Jet Coupling in the Broad-line Radio Quasar 4C+74.26
    journal, October 2018

    Temporal Variability and Estimation of Jet Parameters for Ton 599
    journal, October 2018

    Characterizing the Gamma-Ray Variability of the Brightest Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars Observed with the Fermi LAT
    journal, May 2019

    • Meyer, Manuel; Scargle, Jeffrey D.; Blandford, Roger D.
    • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 877, Issue 1
    • DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab1651

    Exploring the Origin of Multiwavelength Activities of High-redshift Flat-spectrum Radio Quasar PKS 1502+106 during 2014–2018
    journal, August 2019

    Curvature-induced Polarization and Spectral Index Behavior for PKS 1502+106
    journal, October 2019

    Long-term multi-wavelength variability and correlation study of Markarian 421 from 2007 to 2009
    text, January 2016

    • Ahnen, M. L.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A.
    • Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg
    • DOI: 10.3204/pubdb-2016-05883

    Resolving the High Energy Universe with Strong Gravitational Lensing: The Case of PKS 1830-211
    text, January 2015

    Radio follow-up of the gamma-ray flaring gravitational lens JVAS B0218+357
    text, January 2016

    Long-term multi-wavelength variability and correlation study of Markarian 421 from 2007 to 2009
    text, January 2016

    Active Galactic Nuclei: what's in a name?
    text, January 2017

    Signatures of the disk-jet coupling in the Broad-line Radio Quasar 4C+74.26
    text, January 2018

    Multiwavelength Cross-Correlations and Flaring Activity in Bright Blazars
    text, January 2018

    Curvature induced polarization and spectral index behavior for PKS 1502+106
    text, January 2020

    Gamma-ray observations of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei
    text, January 2020

    Magnetoluminescence
    journal, June 2017

    The radio/gamma-ray connection from 120 MHz to 230 GHz
    journal, July 2016

    Relativistic Jets of Blazars
    preprint, January 2020

    GeV-radio correlation in Markarian 421
    text, January 2021

      Sort by:
      [ × clear filter / sort ]

      Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: