We present multi-epoch observations from the Submillimeter Array (SMA) for a sample of 171 bright blazars, 43 of which were detected by Fermi during the first three months of observations. We explore the correlation between their gamma-ray properties and submillimeter observations of their parsec-scale jets, with a special emphasis on spectral index in both bands and the variability of the synchrotron component. Subclass is determined using a combination of Fermi designation and the Candidate Gamma-Ray Blazar Survey (CGRaBS), resulting in 35 BL Lac objects and 136 flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in our total sample. We calculate submillimeter energy spectral indices using contemporaneous observations in the 1 mm and 850 micron bands during the months August-October 2008. The submillimeter light curves are modeled as first-order continuous autoregressive processes, from which we derive characteristic timescales. Our blazar sample exhibits no differences in submillimeter variability amplitude or characteristic timescale as a function of subclass or luminosity. All of the the light curves are consistent with being produced by a single process that accounts for both low and high states, and there is additional evidence that objects may be transitioning between blazar class during flaring epochs.
We investigate the variability properties of blazars in the GeV band using the data of the Fermi/LAT telescope. We find that blazars exhibit variability on the scales down to the minimal timescale resolvable by Fermi, which is a function of the peak photon count rate in the LAT. This implies that the real minimal variability timescales for the majority of blazars are typically shorter than those resolvable by the LAT. We find that for several blazars these minimal variability timescales reach those associated to the blazar central engine, the supermassive black hole. At the same time, none of …
The Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi LAT) provides long term systematic monitoring observations of the gamma-ray emission from blazars. The variability properties and the correlation with other wavelength bands are important clues for the evaluation of blazar models. We present results from timing and multiwavelength correlation analysis and discuss differences between blazar classes.
We present results from four years of twice-weekly 15 GHz radio monitoring of about 1500 blazars with the Owens Valley Radio Observatory 40 m telescope. Using the intrinsic modulation index to measure variability amplitude, we find that, with $>\!6σ$ significance, the radio variability of radio-selected gamma-ray-loud blazars is stronger than that of gamma-ray-quiet blazars. Our extended data set also includes at least 21 months of data for all AGN with `clean' associations in the Fermi Large Area Telescope First AGN catalogue, 1LAC. With these additional data we examine the radio variability …
We investigate the use of optical photometric variability to select and identify blazars in large-scale time-domain surveys, in part to aid in the identification of blazar counterparts to the ~30% of gamma-ray sources in the Fermi 2FGL catalog still lacking reliable associations. Using data from the optical LINEAR asteroid survey, we characterize the optical variability of blazars by fitting a damped random walk model to individual light curves with two main model parameters, the characteristic timescales of variability (tau), and driving amplitudes on short timescales (sigma). Imposing cuts o…
Blazars can be divided into two sub-classes namely high energy and low energy peaked blazars. In spectral energy distribution, the first synchrotron hump of the former class peaks in UV/X-rays and in IR/optical bands for the latter class. The peak of the spectral energy distribution seems to be responsible for variability properties of these classes of blazars in X-ray and optical bands. Since, in low energy peaked blazars, the X-ray bands lies well below the synchrotron hump, one expects that the highest energy electrons available for the synchrotron emission would have slower effect of varia…
Recently observed minute timescale variability of blazar emission at TeV energies has imposed severe constraints on jet models and TeV emission mechanisms. We focus on a robust jet instability to explain this variability. As a consequence of the bulk outflow of the jet plasma, the pressure is likely to be anisotropic, with the parallel pressure $P_{||}$ in the forward jet direction exceeding the perpendicular pressure $P_{\perp}$. Under these circumstances, the jet is susceptible to the firehose instability, which can cause disruptions in the large scale jet structure and result in variability…
We present the time variability properties of a sample of six blazars, AO 0235+164, 3C 273, 3C 279, PKS 1510-089, PKS 2155-304, and 3C 454.3, at optical-IR as well as gamma-ray energies. These observations were carried out as a part of the Yale/SMARTS program during 2008-2010 that has followed the variations in emission of the bright Fermi-LAT-monitored blazars in the southern sky with closely-spaced observations at BVRJK bands. We find the optical/IR time variability properties of these blazars to be remarkably similar to those at the gamma-ray energies. The power spectral density (PSD) funct…
Here we report our recent results of variability studies in optical and X-ray bands of three blazars namely 3C 273, PKS 2155 - 304 and BL Lacertae with XMM-Newton. We found large amplitude optical to X-rays variability in 3C 273, and PKS 2155 - 304 on year time scale. In 3C 273, we noticed that synchrotron cooling and particle acceleration are at work at different epoch of observations. In PKS 2155 - 304, spectral energy distribution from optical to X-ray is fitted with LPPL (log parabolic + power law) model. In BL Lacertae, optical flux and degree of polarization were anti-correlated.
We present our optical photometric observations of three TeV blazars, PKS 1510-089, PG 1553+113 and Mrk 501 taken using two telescopes in India, one in Bulgaria, one in Greece and one in Serbia during 2012 - 2014. These observations covered a total of 95 nights with a total of 202 B filter frames, 247 images in V band, 817 in R band while 229 images were taken in the I filter. This work is focused on multi-band flux and colour variability studies of these blazars on diverse timescales which are useful in understanding the emission mechanisms. We studied the variability characteristics of above…
In this review, recent progress in theoretical models for the broadband (radio through gamma-ray) emission from blazars are summarized. The salient features of both leptonic and hadronic models are reviewed. I present sample modeling results of spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of different types of Fermi-detected blazars along the traditional blazar sequence, using both types of models. In many cases, the SEDs of high-frequency peaked blazars (HBLs) have been found to be well represented by simple synchrotron + synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) models. However, a few HBLs recently discovered …
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are well-known to exhibit flux variability across a wide range of wavelength regimes, but the precise origin of the variability at different wavelengths remains unclear. To investigate the relatively unexplored near-IR variability of the most luminous AGNs, we conduct a search for variability using well sampled JHKs-band light curves from the 2MASS survey calibration fields. Our sample includes 27 known quasars with an average of 924 epochs of observation over three years, as well as one spectroscopically confirmed blazar (SDSSJ14584479+3720215) with 1972 epochs o…
We reviewed multi-wavelength blazars variability and detection of quasi-periodic oscillations on intra-day timescales. The variability timescale from few minutes to up to less than a days is commonly known as intra-day variability. These fast variations are extremely useful to constrain the size of emitting region, black hole mass estimation, etc. It is noticed that in general blazars show intra-day variability in the complete electromagnetic spectrum. But some class of blazars either do not show or show very little intra-day variability in a specific band of electromagnetic spectrum. Blazars …
One of the most important problem of the blazar astrophysics is to understand the physical origin of the blazar sequence. In this study, we focus on the GeV gamma-ray variability of blazars and evolution perspective we search the relation between the redshift and the variability amplitude of blazars for each blazar subclass. We analyzed the Fermi-LAT data of the TeV blazars and the bright AGNs (flux $\geq$ 4$\times10^{-9}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$) selected from the 2LAC (the 2nd LAT AGN catalog) data base. As a result, we found a hint of the correlation between the redshift and the variability ampli…
X-ray data from the blazar BL Lac are used to investigate the nature of its variability, and more precisely the flux dependency of the variability and the distribution of fluxes. The variations in the flux are found to have a lognormal distribution and the average amplitude of variability is proportional to the flux level. BL Lac is the first blazar in which lognormal X-ray variability is clearly detected. Lognormal variability in X-ray light curves, probably related to accretion disk activity, has been discovered in various compact systems, such as Seyfert galaxies and X-ray binaries. The lig…
Since late 2007, we have been monitoring a large sample of known and likely gamma-ray-loud blazars at 15 GHz twice per week with the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) 40 m Telescope. Our initial sample included the 1158 sources above declination -20 degrees from the Candidate Gamma-Ray Blazar Survey (CGRaBS), and we have since added nearly 400 more sources, including all blazars associated with Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) detections in the First AGN Catalog (1LAC). Here, we describe the new sample and present results for 2008 through early 2011. Using statistical likelihood analyses, …
To search for optical variability on a wide range of timescales, we have carried out photometric monitoring of 3C 454.3, 3C 279 and S5 0716+714. CCD magnitudes in B, V, R and I pass-bands were determined for $\sim$ 7000 new optical observations from 114 nights made during 2011 - 2014, with an average length of $\sim$ 4 h each, at seven optical telescopes. We measured multiband optical flux and colour variations on diverse timescales. We also investigated its spectral energy distribution using B, V, R, I, J and K pass-band data. We discuss possible physical causes of the observed spectral varia…
In this paper we present results of a short-term optical monitoring of 13 blazars. The objects were monitored mostly in the R-band for a total of ~ 160 hours between 2006 and 2011. We study the nature of the short-term variations and show that most of them could be described as slow, smooth, and (almost) linear changes of up to ~ 0.1 mag/hour, but many objects show no short-term variations at all. In fact, we found only ~ 2 per cent chance to observe variability of more than 0.1 mag/hour for the sample we observed. Hints for quasi-periodic oscillations at very low amplitude levels are also fou…
Blazars represent dominant population of the extragalactic $γ$-ray sources in the Universe. These sources exhibit some characteristic properties like strong and non-thermal continuum emission over the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio to TeV $γ$-rays with rapid variability on all timescales. The emission at radio and optical wavelengths is highly polarized with significant variation. The fastest variability in the blazar emission is observed during the flaring activity which is an important observational property of blazars. In this paper, we describe various methods to characterize t…
We identify 3,113 highly variable objects in 7,200 square degrees of the Palomar-QUEST Survey, which each varied by more than 0.4 magnitudes simultaneously in two broadband optical filters on timescales from hours to roughly 3.5 years. The primary goal of the selection is to find blazars by their well-known violent optical variability. Because most known blazars have been found in radio and/or X-ray wavelengths, a sample discovered through optical variability may have very different selection effects, elucidating the range of behavior possible in these systems. A set of blazars selected in thi…
The properties of blazar variability in the radio band are studied using the unique combination of temporal resolution from single dish monitoring and spatial resolution from VLBA imaging; such measurements, now available in all four Stokes parameters, together with theoretical simulations, identify the origin of radio band variability and probe the characteristics of the radio jet where the broadband blazar emission originates. Outbursts in total flux density and linear polarization in the optical-to-radio bands are attributed to shocks propagating within the jet spine, in part based on limit…
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, as an all-sky survey and monitoring mission, is producing daily/weekly sampled gamma-ray light curves for dozens of blazars and other high-energy sources. Highlights on MeV-GeV gamma-ray variability properties of these sources are reported together with a few remarks about some multi-waveband observing campaigns led by Fermi and targeted to known or newly discovered gamma-ray blazars.
We present a long-term and intraday variability study on optical multiwaveband ($U\!BV\!RI$) data from the blazar AO 0235+164 collected by various telescopes for $\sim$44 years (1975--2019). The blazar was found to be significantly variable over the years in all wavebands with a variation of about six magnitudes between its low and active states. The variations in the different wavebands are highly correlated without any time lag. We did not observe any significant trend in color variation with time, but we observed a bluer-when-brighter trend between the $B-I$ color index and the $R$-magnitud…
This article shortly introduces Gaussian processes (GP) as a new approach for modelling time series in the field of blazar physics. In the second part of the paper, recent results from an application of GP modelling to the multi-wavelength light curves of the blazar PKS 1502+106 are discussed.
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are known to show significant variability over a wide frequency range. We review observational results on the variability characteristics of blazars in the very high energy (VHE) domain, focusing on recent findings of rapid VHE variability and evidence for an underlying multiplicative driving process in PKS 2155-304. We explore a physical scenario where the variability is assumed to arise due to accretion disk fluctuations transmitted to the jet, and discuss its implications for the central powerhouse.
In this work we investigate the nature of multi-wavelength variability of blazars from a purely numerical approach. We use a time-dependent one-zone leptonic blazar emission model to simulate multi-wavelength variability by introducing stochastic parameter variations in the emission region. These stochastic parameter variations are generated by Monte Carlo methods and have a characteristic power law index of $α=-2$ in their power spectral densities. We include representative blazar test cases for a flat spectrum radio quasar and a high synchrotron peaked BL Lacertae object for which the high e…
Blazars are known to show periods of quiescence followed by outbursts visible throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. We present a novel maximum likelihood approach to capture this bimodal behavior by examining blazar radio variability in the flux-density domain. We separate quiescent and flaring components of a source's light curve by modeling its flux-density distribution as a series of "off" and "on" states. Our modeling allows us to extract information regarding the flaring ratio, duty cycle, and the modulation index in the "off"-state, in the "on"-state, as well as throughout the monitor…
We reviewed X-ray flux and spectral variability properties studied to date by various X-ray satellites for Mrk 421 and PKS 2155-304, which are TeV emitting blazars. Mrk 421 and PKS 2155-304 are the most X-ray luminous blazars in the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively. Blazars show flux and spectral variabilities in the complete electromagnetic spectrum on diverse timescales ranging from a few minutes to hours, days, weeks, months and even several years. The flux and spectral variability on different timescales can be used to constrain the size of the emitting region, estimate the …
We present results of optical observations of the extremely violently variable blazar S4 0954+65 on intra-night time scales. The object showed flux changes of up to 100% within a few hours. Time delays between optical bands, color changes and "rms-flux" relations are investigated and the results are discussed in terms of existing models of blazar variability.
We present the results obtained from our campaign to characterize the intra-night-optical variability properties of blazars detected by the {\it Fermi} Large Area Telescope. This involves R-band monitoring observations of a sample of 18 blazars, that includes five flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and thirteen BL Lac objects (BL Lacs) covering the redshift range z = 0.085$-$1.184. Our observations, carried out using the 1.3 m J.C. Bhattacharya Telescope cover a total of 40 nights ($\sim$200 hrs) between the period 2016 December and 2020 March. We characterized variability using the power enh…
Characteristic variability timescales in blazar gamma-ray light curves can provide insight into the physical processes responsible for the gamma-ray variability. The power spectral density (PSD) is capable of revealing such timescales, which may appear as breaks or periodicities. Continuous-time autoregressive moving-average (CARMA) models can be used to accurately estimate a light curve's PSD. Through a lightcurve simulation study, we develop a methodology to identify PSD breaks using CARMA models. Using this methodology, we study the gamma-ray light curves of 13 bright blazars observed with …
We compile from literature the broadband SEDs of twelve TeV blazars observed simultaneously or quasi-simultaneously with Fermi/LAT and other instruments. Two SEDs are available for each of the objects and the state is identified as a low or high state according to its flux density at GeV/TeV band. The observed SEDs of BL Lac objects (BL Lacs) are fitted well with the synchrotron + synchrotron-self-Compton (syn+SSC) model, whereas the SEDs of the two flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) need to include the contributions of external Compton scattering. In this scenario, it is found that the Doppl…
We present the results of photometric observations of three TeV blazars, 3C 66A, S5 0954+658 and BL Lacertae, during the period 2013--2017. Our extensive observations were performed in a total of 360 nights which produced $\sim$6820 image frames in BVRI bands. We study flux and spectral variability of these blazars on these lengthy timescales. We also examine the optical Spectral Energy Distributions of these blazars, which are crucial in understanding the emission mechanism of long-term variability in blazars. All three TeV blazars exhibited strong flux variability during our observations. Th…
Despite significant progress in both data taking and the development of theory, blazars keep offering surprises. While many frequency bands are now covered by long-term monitoring efforts on at least a few selected sources, blazars remain unpredictable and the same source may exhibit vastly different behaviors. Here, an overview is given about four selected sources, namely 3C 279, PKS 2155-304, PKS 1510-089 and CTA 102. All of them exhibited, indeed, highly unexpected events.
Blazar variability may be driven by stochastic processes. On the other hand, quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) behaviors are recently reported to be detected in $\it{Fermi}$-LAT data of blazars. However, the significances of these QPO signals given by traditional Fourier-like methods are still questioned. We analyze $γ$-ray light curves of the QPO blazars with two Gaussian process methods, CARMA and $\it{celerite}$, to examine the appropriateness of Gaussian processes for characterizing $γ$-ray light curves of blazars and the existence of the reported QPOs. We collect a sample of 27 blazars wit…
High-redshift blazars are one of the most powerful monsters in the universe and $γ$-ray variability carries crucial information of their relativistic jets. In this work we present results of the first systematical temporal analysis of {\it Fermi}-LAT data of all known seven $γ$-ray blazars beyond redshift 3. Significant long-term $γ$-ray variability is found from five sources in monthly $γ$-ray light curves, in which three of them are reported for the first time. Furthermore, intraday $γ$-ray variations are detected from NVSS J053954$-$283956 and NVSS J080518$+$614423. Doubling variability tim…
We evaluate the optical/near-infrared (OIR) color variability of 3C 279 in both gamma-ray flaring and non-flaring states over 7-year timescales using the Small and Medium Aperture Research Telescope System (SMARTS) in Cerro Tololo, Chile and gamma-ray fluxes obtained from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. This observing strategy differs from previous blazar color variability studies in two key ways: 1) the reported color variability is assessed across optical through near-infrared wavelengths, and 2) the color variability is assessed over timescales significantly longer than an individual f…
Recent population studies have shown that the variability Doppler factors can adequately describe blazars as a population. We use the flux density variations found within the extensive radio multi-wavelength datasets of the F-GAMMA program, a total of 10 frequencies from 2.64 up to 142.33 GHz, in order to estimate the variability Doppler factors for 58 $γ$-ray bright sources, for 20 of which no variability Doppler factor has been estimated before. We employ specifically designed algorithms in order to obtain a model for each flare at each frequency. We then identify each event and track its ev…
We identify rotations of the polarization angle in a sample of blazars observed for three seasons with the RoboPol instrument. A simplistic stochastic variability model is tested against this sample of rotation events. The model is capable of producing samples of rotations with parameters similar to the observed ones, but fails to reproduce the polarization fraction at the same time. Even though we can neither accept nor conclusively reject the model, we point out various aspects of the observations that are fully consistent with a random walk process.
Both gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and blazars have relativistic jets pointing at a small angle from our line of sight. Several recent studies suggested that these two kinds of sources may share similar jet physics. In this work, we explore the variability properties for GRBs and blazars as a whole. We find that the correlation between minimum variability timescale (MTS) and Lorentz factor, $Γ$, as found only in GRBs by Sonbas et al. can be extended to blazars with a joint correlation of $\rm MTS\proptoΓ^{-4.7\pm0.3}$. The same applies to the $\rm MTS\propto \it L_γ^{\rm -1.0\pm0.1}$ correlation as …
We study the expected variability patterns of blazars within the two-zone acceleration model putting special emphasis on flare shapes and spectral lags. We solve semi-analytically the kinetic equations which describe the particle evolution in the acceleration and radiation zone. We then perturb the solutions by introducing Lorentzian variations in its key parameters and examine the flaring behavior of the system. We apply the above to the X-ray observations of blazar 1ES 1218+304 which exhibited a hard lag behavior during a flaring episode and discuss possibilities of producing it within the c…
We present the results of timing and spectral analysis of the blazar H 2356-309 using XMM-Newton observations. This blazar is observed during 13 June 2005-24 December 2013 in total nine observations. Five of the observations show moderate flux variability with amplitude 1.7-2.2 percent. We search for the intra-day variability timescales in these five light curves, but did not find in any of them. The fractional variability amplitude is generally lower in the soft bands than in the hard bands, which is attributed to the energy dependent synchrotron emission. Using the hardness ratio analysis, w…
We present the results of a time series analysis of the long-term radio lightcurves of four blazars: 3C 279, 3C 345, 3C 446, and BL Lacertae. We exploit the data base of the University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory (UMRAO) monitoring program which provides densely sampled lightcurves spanning 32 years in time in three frequency bands located at 4.8, 8, and 14.5 GHz. Our sources show mostly flat or inverted (spectral indices -0.5 < alpha < 0) spectra, in agreement with optically thick emission. All lightcurves show strong variability on all time scales. Analyzing the time lags between…
Blazars display strong variability on multiple timescales and in multiple radiation bands. Their variability is often characterized by power spectral densities (PSDs) and time lags plotted as functions of the Fourier frequency. We develop a new theoretical model based on the analysis of the electron transport (continuity) equation, carried out in the Fourier domain. The continuity equation includes electron cooling and escape, and a derivation of the emission properties includes light travel time effects associated with a radiating blob in a relativistic jet. The model successfully reproduces …
The spectral energy distribution and variability of several blazars (Mkn 501, 1 ES 2344+51.4, PKS 2155-30.4, 1 ES 1218+30.4, 3C 454.3) along the blazar sequence is investigated using a selfconsistent and timedependent lepto-hadronic hybrid emission model. The BL Lac objects in the list are successfully modelled with purely leptonic radiation processes (essentially Synchrotron Self-Compton emission), while the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar requires highly relativistic hadrons to be present within the jet. Variability is exploited as well with our model to distinguish between Self-Compton and hadro…
The F-GAMMA program is among the most comprehensive programs that aim at understanding the physics in active galactic nuclei through the multi-frequency monitoring of Fermi blazars. Here we discuss monthly sampled broad-band radio spectra (2.6 - 142 GHz). Two different studies are presented. (a) We discuss that the variability patterns traced can be classified into two classes: (1) to those showing intense spectral-evolution and (2) those showing a self-similar quasi-achromatic behaviour. We show that a simple two-component model can very well reproduce the observed phenomenologies. (b) We pre…
We study the gamma-ray variability of 13 blazars observed with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). These blazars have the most complete light curves collected during the first 4 years of the Fermi sky survey. We model them with the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) process or a mixture of the OU processes. The OU process has power spectral density (PSD) proportional to 1/f^alpha with alpha changing at a characteristic time scale, tau_0, from 0 (tau>>tau_0) to 2 (tau<<tau_0). The PSD of the mixed OU process has two characteristic time scales and an additional intermediate region with 0<alpha<2. We show…
Decade-long monitoring of blazars at optical and infrared (OIR) wavelengths with the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System (SMARTS) in Chile and in $γ$-rays with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has enabled the systematic study of their multi-wavelength long-term variability. In this work we investigate, from a theoretical perspective, the long-term variability properties of blazar emission by introducing an observationally motivated time-dependence to four main parameters of the one-zone leptonic model: injection luminosity of relativistic electrons, strength of magnetic f…
So far, no systematic long-term blazar monitoring programs and detailed variability studies exist at sub-mm wavelengths. Here, we present a new sub-mm blazar monitoring program using the APEX 12-m telescope. A sample of about 40 gamma-ray blazars has been monitored since 2007/2008 with the LABOCA bolometer camera at 345 GHz. First light curves, preliminary variability results and a first comparison with the longer cm/mm bands (F-GAMMA program) are presented, demonstrating the extreme variability characteristics of blazars at such short wavelengths.
Blazars are highly variable active galactic nuclei which emit radiation at all wavelengths from radio to gamma-rays. Polarized radiation from blazars is one key piece of evidence for synchrotron radiation at low energies and it also varies dramatically. The polarization of blazars is of interest for understanding the origin, confinement, and propagation of jets. However, even though numerous measurements have been performed, the mechanisms behind jet creation, composition and variability are still debated. We performed simultaneous gamma-ray and optical photopolarimetry observations of 45 blaz…
We obtained and analyzed more than 100 hours of multicolour optical time series of the blazar CTA 102 during its 2012 and 2016 outbursts. The object reached almost 11-th mag at the end of 2016, which is perhaps the brightest blazar state ever observed! During both outbursts, CTA 102 showed significant and rapid variability on intra-night time scales, reaching up to 0.2 mag for 30 min on some occasions. The "rms-flux" relation, built for all datasets, shows a large scatter and no apparent saturation on the magnitude scale. The ensemble structure function of the light curves can be fitted well w…
In this presentation, we report the results of intraday variability in the optical (BVRI bands) and hard X-ray band (3-79 keV) in a number of blazars. In the optical microvariability studies of the blazars S5 0716+714 and BL Lac, we observed many interesting features such as rapid variability, large variability amplitude, presence of characteristic timescales, bluer-when-brighter achromatic behavior, and single power-law power spectral density. In {\it NuSTAR} observations of several blazars, using spectral and timing analysis, we found similar features consistent with the optical studies. In …
We have examined 40 NuSTAR light curves (LCs) of five TeV emitting high synchrotron peaked blazars: 1ES 0229+200, Mrk 421, Mrk 501, 1ES 1959+650 and PKS 2155-304. Four of the blazars showed intraday variability in the NuSTAR energy range of 3-79 keV. Using an auto correlation function analysis we searched for intraday variability timescales in these LCs and found indications of several between 2.5 and 32.8 ks in eight LCs of Mrk 421, a timescale around 8.0 ks for one LC of Mrk 501, and timescales of 29.6 ks and 57.4 ks in two LCs of PKS 2155-304. The other two blazars' LCs do not show any evid…
In this letter we present results from intra-night monitoring in three colors (BRI) of the blazar S4 0954+65 during its recent (2015 February) unprecedented high state. We find violent variations on very short time scales, reaching magnitude change levels of 0.1-0.2 mag/h. On some occasions, changes of ~0.1 mag are observed even within ~10 min. During the night of 14.02.2015 an exponential drop of ~0.7 magnitudes is detected for about 5 hours. Cross-correlation between the light curves does not reveal any detectable wavelength-dependent time delays, larger than ~5 min. Color changes "bluer-whe…
