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arXiv 1507.08424astro-ph.HE
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2014年WEBT活动期间在Blazar S5 0716+714中发现高度偏振光学微耀斑

Discovery of a Highly Polarized Optical Microflare in the Blazar S5 0716+714 During 2014 WEBT Campaign

Gopal Bhatta, Arti Goyal, Michal Ostrowski, Łukasz Stawarz, A. A. Arkharov, Hiroshi Akitaya, Rumen Bachev, Erika Benítez, G. A. Borman, Daniele Carosati, Andy C… 展开作者

Gopal Bhatta, Arti Goyal, Michal Ostrowski, Łukasz Stawarz, A. A. Arkharov, Hiroshi Akitaya, Rumen Bachev, Erika Benítez, G. A. Borman, Daniele Carosati, Andy Cason, Goran Damljanovic, Sarah Dhalla, Antonio Frasca, David Hiriart, Shao Ming Hu, Ryosuke Itoh, Damian Jableka, Svetlana Jorstad, Koji Kawabata, Sergey Klimanov, Omar Kurtanidze, Valeri Larionov, Douglas Laurence, Giuseppe Leto, Alex Markowitz, Alan P. Marscher, J. Moody, Yuki Moritani, Johannes Ohlert, Andrea Di Paola, Claudia M. Raiteri, Nicola Rizzi, Alberto Sadun, Mahito Sasada, Sergey G Sergeev, Anton Strigachev, Katsutoshi Takaki, Ivan Troitsky, Takahiro Ui, Massimo Villata, Oliver Vince, James Webb, Michitoshi Yoshida, Staszek Zola

摘要:

耀变体在小时尺度上的低振幅通量变化,通常称为微变,仍然是高能天体物理学中广泛争论的话题。人们提出了几种相互竞争的方案来解释这种现象,包括导致激波形成的各种射流等离子体不稳定性、磁重联位点和湍流。在这封信中,我们介绍了我们对2014年3月2日至6日针对blazar 0716+714的最近WEBT活动期间检测到的一个突出的,长达5小时的光学微耀斑的详细调查结果。在将耀斑分量从耀变体的基本发射连续谱中分离出来后,我们发现微耀斑是高度偏振的,偏振度为$\sim (40-60)\%$ $\pm (2-10)\%$,电矢量位置角$\sim (10 - 20)$ deg $\pm (1-8)$ deg相对于射电喷流的位置角稍有偏离。微耀斑在$(Q,\,U)$ Stokes参数空间中的演化表现出逆时针旋转的环状行为,即偏振度随通量的增加而减小(但在通量衰减阶段较高),偏振角近似稳定。耀斑的整体非常高的偏振度,其对称的通量上升和衰减的配置文件,以及它的结构演变的$Q-U$平面,都意味着所观察到的通量变化对应于一个单一的发射区域,其特征在于一个高度有序的磁场。正如论文中所讨论的,一个小规模但强的冲击波在外流中传播,并压缩无序的磁场分量,为我们的发现提供了一个自然的,但不是唯一的解释。

英文摘要:

The occurrence of low-amplitude flux variations in blazars on hourly timescales, commonly known as microvariability, is still a widely debated subject in high-energy astrophysics. Several competing scenarios have been proposed to explain such occurrences, including various jet plasma instabilities leading to the formation of shocks, magnetic reconnection sites, and turbulence. In this letter we present the results of our detailed investigation of a prominent, five-hour-long optical microflare detected during recent WEBT campaign in 2014, March 2-6 targeting the blazar 0716+714. After separating the flaring component from the underlying base emission continuum of the blazar, we find that the microflare is highly polarized, with the polarization degree $\sim (40-60)\%$$\pm (2-10)\%$, and the electric vector position angle $\sim (10 - 20)$deg$\pm (1-8)$deg slightly misaligned with respect to the position angle of the radio jet. The microflare evolution in the $(Q,\,U)$ Stokes parameter space exhibits a looping behavior with a counter-clockwise rotation, meaning polarization degree decreasing with the flux (but higher in the flux decaying phase), and approximately stable polarization angle. The overall very high polarization degree of the flare, its symmetric flux rise and decay profiles, and also its structured evolution in the $Q-U$ plane, all imply that the observed flux variation corresponds to a single emission region characterized by a highly ordered magnetic field. As discussed in the paper, a small-scale but strong shock propagating within the outflow, and compressing a disordered magnetic field component, provides a natural, though not unique, interpretation of our findings.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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