PRECURSOR FLARES IN OJ 287

Journal Article · Sun Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/764/1/5· OSTI ID:22167084

Pihajoki, P.; Berdyugin, A.; Lindfors, E.; Reinthal, R.; Sillanpaeae, A.; Takalo, L. ^[1]; Valtonen, M.; Nilsson, K. ^[2]; Zola, S.; Koziel-Wierzbowska, D. ^[3]; Liakos, A. ^[4]; Drozdz, M.; Winiarski, M.; Ogloza, W. ^[5]; Provencal, J. ^[6]; Santangelo, M. M. M. ^[7]; Salo, H. ^[8]; Chandra, S.; Ganesh, S.; others, and

---

1. Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, FI-21500 Piikkioe (Finland)
2. Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO, University of Turku, FI-21500 Piikkioe (Finland)
3. Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University, ul. Orla 171, PL-30-244 Krakow (Poland)
4. Department of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, University of Athens, GR 157 84 Zografos, Athens, Hellas (Greece)
5. Mount Suhora Observatory, Pedagogical University, ul. Podchorazych 2, PL-30-084 Krakow (Poland)
6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)
7. O.A.C. Osservatorio Astronomico di Capannori, Via di Valle, I-55060 Vorno, Capannori (Italy)
8. Department of Physical Sciences, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014 University of Oulu (Finland)

We have studied three most recent precursor flares in the light curve of the blazar OJ 287 while invoking the presence of a precessing binary black hole in the system to explain the nature of these flares. Precursor flare timings from the historical light curves are compared with theoretical predictions from our model that incorporate effects of an accretion disk and post-Newtonian description for the binary black hole orbit. We find that the precursor flares coincide with the secondary black hole descending toward the accretion disk of the primary black hole from the observed side, with a mean z-component of approximately z{sub c} = 4000 AU. We use this model of precursor flares to predict that precursor flare of similar nature should happen around 2020.96 before the next major outburst in 2022.

• OSTI ID: 22167084
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 764, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ACCRETION DISKS
APPROXIMATIONS
BL LACERTAE OBJECTS
BLACK HOLES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DIAGRAMS
FORECASTING
ORBITS
PRECURSOR
QUASARS