We aim to test if a blazar candidate of uncertain-type (BCU) in the third Fermi active galactic nuclei catalog (3LAC) can be potentially classified as a BL Lac object or a flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) by performing a statistical analysis of its broadband spectral properties. We find that 34% of the radio-selected BCUs (583 BCUs) are BL Lac-like and 20% of them are FSRQ-like, which maybe within 90% level of confidence. Similarly, 77.3% of the X-ray selected BCUs (176 BCUs) are evaluated as BL Lac-like and 6.8% of them may be FSRQ-like sources. And 88.7% of the BL Lac-like BCUs that have synchrotron peak frequencies available are high synchrotron peaked BL Lacs in the X-ray selected BCUs. The percentages are accordingly 62% and 7.3% in the sample of 124 optical-selected BCUs. The high ratio of source numbers of the BL Lac-like to the FSRQ-like BCUs in the X-ray and optically selected BCU samples is due to the selection effect. Examining the consistency between our evaluation and spectroscopic identification case by case with a sample of 78 radio-selected BCUs, it is found that the statistical analysis and its resulting classifications agree with the results of the optical follow-up spectroscopic observations. Our observation campaign for high-|ρ_{s}| BCUs , i.e., |ρ_{s}|>0.8, selected with our method is ongoing.
The broadband spectral energy distribution(SED) of blazars is generally interpreted as radiation arising from synchrotron and inverse Compton mechanisms.Traditionally, the underlying source parameters responsible for these emission processes,like particle energy density, magnetic field, etc., are obtained through simple visual reproduction of the observed fluxes. However, this procedure is incapable of providing the confidence range on the estimated parameters. In this work, we propose an efficient algorithm to perform a statistical fit of the observed broadband spectrum of blazars using diffe…
The internal-shocks scenario in relativistic jets has been used to explain the variability of blazars' outflow emission. Recent simulations have shown that the magnetic field alters the dynamics of these shocks producing a whole zoo of spectral energy density patterns. However, the role played by magnetization in such high-energy emission is still not entirely understood. With the aid of \emph{Fermi}'s second LAT AGN catalog, a comparison with observations in the $γ$-ray band was performed, in order to identify the effects of the magnetic field.
Quasi-Simultaneous Broadband Spectral Energy Distributions of a Sample of Fermi Blazars -- I. Correlation Results
Zhejiang Normal University（浙江师范大学）；Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院紫金山天文台）；University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；Shanghai Normal University（上海师范大学）；Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院云南天文台）；Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）；College of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Qilu Normal University（齐鲁师范学院物理与电子工程学院）
One of the most important questions in blazar physics is the origin of broadband emission and fast-flux variation. In this work, we studied the broadband temporal and spectral properties of a TeV blazar 1ES 1727+502 and explore the one-zone synchrotron-self Compton (SSC) model to fit the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED). We collected the long-term (2014-2021) multiband data which includes both the low and high flux states of the source. The entire light curve is divided into three segments of different flux states and the best-fit parameters obtained by broadband SED modeling corre…
A broadband study of the high redshift blazar S5 0836+71 (z = 2.172) is presented. Multi-frequency light curves show multiple episodes of X-ray and $γ$-ray flares, while optical-UV fluxes show little variations. During the GeV outburst, the highest $γ$-ray flux measured is (5.22 $\pm$ 1.10) $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ ph cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the range of 0.1-300 GeV, which corresponds to an isotropic $γ$-ray luminosity of (1.62 $\pm$ 0.44) $\times$ 10$^{50}$ erg s$^{-1}$, thereby making this as one of the most luminous $γ$-ray flare ever observed from any blazar. A fast $γ$-ray flux rising time of $\s…
Blazars host the most powerful persistent relativistic conical jet -- a highly collimated anisotropic flow of material/plasma. Motivated by this, we explore the blazar's broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) in an anisotropic flow of plasma which emits via synchrotron and inverse Compton (IC) mechanism. The flow is conical with two velocity components: a highly relativistic flow component along the jet axis and a random perpendicular component with average random Lorentz factor $\langle γ^{ran} \rangle$ $<<$ than the average component along the jet axis $\langle γ\rangle$. Assuming a br…
Aim : The nearby TeV blazar 1ES 1959+650 (z=0.047) was reported to be in flaring state during June - July 2016 by Fermi-LAT, FACT, MAGIC and VERITAS collaborations. We studied the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in different states of the flare during MJD 57530 - 57589 using simultaneous multiwaveband data to understand the possible broadband emission scenario during the flare. Methods : The UV/optical and X-ray data from UVOT and XRT respectively on board Swift and high energy $γ$-ray data from Fermi-LAT are used to generate multiwaveband lightcurves as well as to obtain high flux states…
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are powerful astrophysical events with relativistic jets. In this Letter the broadband spectral properties are compared between GRBs and the well-observed blazars. The distribution of GRBs are consistent with the well-known blazar sequence including the $νL_ν(5\rm GHz)-α_{\rm RX}$ and $νL_ν(5\rm GHz)-ν_{\rm peak}$ correlations, where $α_{\rm RX}$ is defined as the broadband spectral slope in radio-to-X-ray bands, and $ν_{\rm peak}$ is defined as the spectral peak frequency. Moreover, GRBs occupy the low radio luminosity end of these seq…
We present a multi-wavelength study of four high redshift blazars, S5 0014+81 ($z=3.37$), CGRaBS J0225+1846 ($z=2.69$), BZQ J1430+4205 ($z=4.72$), and 3FGL J1656.2$-$3303 ($z=2.40$), using the quasi-simultaneous data from {\it Swift}, {\it NuSTAR}, and {\it Fermi}-Large Area Telescope (LAT) and also the archival {\it XMM-Newton} observations. Other than 3FGL J1656.2$-$3303, none of the sources were known as $γ$-ray emitters and our analysis of $\sim$7.5 years of LAT data reveals the first time detection of the statistically significant $γ$-ray emission from CGRaBS J0225+1846. We generate the b…
The broadband spectral energy distribution of candidate neutrino blazars
CHRIST (Deemed to be University)（克里斯特大学）；North-West University（西北大学）；Indian Institute of Astrophysics（印度天体物理研究所）；Bhabha Atomic Research Centre（巴哈原子研究中心）；Homi Bhabha National Institute（霍米·巴巴国立研究所）
We present statistical analyses of a large homogenous data sample of Fermi-detected blazars thoroughly studied in order to reassess the relationship between flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and subclasses of BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs) blazar populations. We discovered from the average values of gamma-ray and X-ray spectral indices that the sequence of distribution is indicative of the blazar orientation scheme. Analyses of FSRQs and BL Lacs data show difference in the shape of gamma-ray and X-ray indices: significant anti-correlation (r~ greater than - 0.79) exists between gamma-ray and …
We attempt to present a multiwavelength variability and correlation study as well as detailed multi-waveband spectral characteristics of the May 2021 $γ$-ray flare of the blazar source TXS 1700+685. The multi-wavelength observation from \textit{Fermi}-LAT, \textit{Swift}-XRT/UVOT as well as radio archival data are used for our spectro-temporal investigation. We estimate the variability time-scale of the source from the flux doubling time in different flaring regions detected in \textit{Fermi}-LAT observation and the shortest variability time is used to put a constraint on the minimum Doppler f…
The radiative loss interpretation for the broken power-law spectra of blazars is often questioned since the difference between the indices does not support this inference. Using the blazar Mkn 421 as a case study, we performed a detailed analysis of its characteristic photon energy where the spectral index changes significantly. We used the observations of the source by Swift-XRT from 2008 to 2019 to identify the characteristic photon energy and the corresponding spectral indices. The spectra in the energy range 0.3-10.0 keV can be well fitted by a log parabola as well as a smooth broken power…
We present an analysis of the intrinsic (unattenuated by the extragalactic background light, EBL) power-law spectral indices of 128 extragalactic sources detected up to z~2 with the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) at very high energies (VHEs, E>50 GeV). The median of the intrinsic index distribution is 2.20 (versus 2.54 for the observed distribution). We also analyze the observed spectral breaks (i.e., the difference between the VHE and high energy, HE, 100 MeV<E<300 GeV, spectral indices). The LAT has now provided a large sample of sources detected both at VHE and HE with comparable exposure…
We investigate the previously proposed possibility that multi-epoch broadband polarimetry could act as a complement or limited proxy for VLBI observations of blazars, in that the number of polarised emission components in the jet, and some of their properties and those of the foreground environment, might be inferred from the object's time-varying 1D Faraday depth spectrum (FDS) alone. We report on a pilot-scale experiment designed to establish the basic plausibility and utility of this idea. We analyse temporal changes in the complex polarisation spectra of nine spatially unresolved (at arcse…
A study of the gravitationally lensed blazar PKS 1830-211 was carried out using multi waveband data collected by Fermi-LAT, Swift-XRT and Swift-UVOT telescopes between MJD 58400 to MJD 58800 (9 Oct 2018 to 13 Nov 2019). Flaring states were identified by analysing the gamma-ray light curve. Simultaneous multi-waveband SED were obtained for those flaring periods. A cross-correlation analysis of the multi-waveband data was carried out, which suggested a common origin of the gamma-ray and X-ray emission. The broadband emission mechanism was studied by modelling the SED using a leptonic model. Phys…
A very bright and fast varying gamma-ray flare has been detected from the blazar 3C 279 on June 16, 2015. We have studied the broadband spectral energy distribution of the source during the flaring episode and in the low activity state using a simple one zone leptonic model. We find that an electron energy distribution described by a broken power law can be used to reproduce the broadband emissions during the high and low activity states. The flux measurements at radio, infrared and optical frequencies are reproduced by the synchrotron emission resulting from the relativistic electrons in a je…
We use the distributions of spectral indices of a large homogenous sample of Fermi-detected blazars to re-investigate the relationship between flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and subclasses of BL Lac objects (BL Lacs). We compute the broadband synchrotron and Compton spectral indices from radio-to-X-ray and X-ray to gamma-ray bands, respectively. Analyses of our data show continuity in the distributions of the spectral indices from FSRQs to HSP through LSP and ISP subclasses of BL Lacs. We find from gamma-ray luminosity distribution that the jetted radio galaxies form the low-luminosity ta…
The X-ray spectrum of extreme HBL type blazars is located in the synchrotron branch of the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED), at energies below the peak. A joint fit of the extrapolated X-ray spectra together with a host galaxy template allows characterizing the synchrotron branch in the SED. The X-ray spectrum is usually characterized either with a pure or a curved power-law model. In the latter case, however, it is hard to distinguish an intrinsic curvature from excess absorption. In this paper, we focus on five well-observed blazars: 1ES 0229+200, PKS 0548-322, RX J1136+6737, 1ES…
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…
We report the results of flux and spectral variability studies of all seven {\it Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR)} observations of TeV $γ-$ray emitting blazar Markarian (or Mrk) 501. We found strong evidence of intraday variability in 3-79 keV X-ray light curves (LCs) of Mrk 501 during four out of these seven observations. We examined spectral variability using a model-independent hardness-ratio analysis and found a general "harder-when-brighter" behaviour in two observations. We also investigated the nature of 3-79 keV X-ray spectra of TeV blazar Mrk 501 and found that five out …
Blazars are active galactic nuclei with relativistic jets pointed at the Earth, making them extremely bright at essentially all wavelengths, from radio to gamma rays. I review the modeling of this broadband spectral energy distributions of these objects, and what we have learned, with a focus on gamma rays.
Gamma-ray blazars are among the most extreme astrophysical sources, harboring phenomena far more energetic than those attainable by terrestrial accelerators. These galaxies are understood to be active galactic nuclei that are powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes and have relativistic jets pointed along the Earth line of sight. The emission displayed is variable at all wavelengths and timescales probed thus far, necessitating contemporaneous broadband observations to disentangle the details of the emission processes within the relativistic jets. The very high energy (VHE; $E\ge$10…
Simultaneous broadband spectral and temporal studies of blazars are an important tool for investigating active galactic nuclei (AGN) jet physics. We study the spectral evolution between quiescent and flaring periods of 22 radio-loud AGN through multi-epoch, quasi-simultaneous broadband spectra. For many of these sources these are the first broadband studies. We use a Bayesian block analysis of \Fermi/LAT light curves in order to determine time ranges of constant flux for constructing quasi-simultaneous SEDs. The shapes of the resulting 81 SEDs are described by two logarithmic parabolas and a b…
Blazars, a class of highly variable active galactic nuclei, sometimes exhibit Orphan $γ$-ray flares. These flares having high flux only in $γ$-ray energies do not show significant variations in flux at lower energies. We study the temporal and spectral profile of these Orphan $γ$-ray flares in detail from three $γ-ray$ bright blazars, 3C 273, PKS 1510-089 and 3C 279 and also their simultaneous broadband emissions. We find that the variability timescales of the Orphan $γ$-ray flares were $(0.96\pm0.28)$ days, $(3.12\pm2.40)$ hr and $(2.16\pm0.72)$ hr, for 3C 273, PKS 1510-089 and 3C 279, respec…
We present the results of optical photometric observations of three extreme TeV blazars, 1ES 0229$+$200, 1ES 0414$+$009, and 1ES 2344$+$514, taken with two telescopes (1.3 m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope, and 1.04 m Sampuranand Telescope) in India and two (1.4 m Milanković telescope and 60 cm Nedeljković telescope) in Serbia during 2013--2019. We investigated their flux and spectral variability on diverse timescales. We examined a total of 36 intraday $R-$band light curves of these blazars for flux variations using the power-enhanced {\it F}-test and the nested ANOVA test. No significant in…
We summarize broadband observations of the TeV-emitting blazar 1ES 1959+650, including optical R-band observations by the robotic telescopes Super-LOTIS and iTelescope, UV observations by Swift UVOT, X-ray observations by the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT), high-energy gamma-ray observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations by VERITAS above 315 GeV, all taken between 17 April 2012 and 1 June 2012 (MJD 56034 and 56079). The contemporaneous variability of the broadband spectral energy distribution is explored in the context of a simple sync…
We conducted a detailed long-term spectral and temporal study of flat spectrum radio quasar 4C +01.02, by using the multi-wavelength observations from Fermi-LAT, Swift-XRT, and Swift-UVOT. The $2$-day bin $γ$-ray lightcurve in the 2014-2017 active state displays $14$ peak structures with a maximum integral flux $(\rm E > 100 \ MeV)$ of $\rm (2.5 \pm 0.2) \times 10^{-6}\ ph\ cm^{-2}\ s^{-1}$ at MJD 57579.1, which is approximately $61$ times higher than the base flux of $\rm (4.1 \pm 0.3) \times 10^{-8}\ ph\ cm^{-2}\ s^{-1}$, calculated by averaging the flux points when the source was in quiesce…
The origin of gamma-ray flares observed from blazars is one of the major mysteries in jet physics. We have attempted to address this problem following a novel spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting technique that explored the flaring patterns identified in the broadband SEDs of two gamma-ray bright blazars 3C 279 (z=0.54) and 3C 454.3 (z=0.86), using near-simultaneous radio-to-gamma-ray observations. For both sources, the gamma-ray flux strongly correlates with the separation of the SED peaks and the Compton dominance. We propose that spectral hardening of the radiating electron population…
A detailed multi-epoch study of the broadband spectral behaviour of the very high energy (VHE) source, 1ES\,1011+496, provides us with valuable information regarding the underlying particle distribution. Simultaneous observations of the source at optical/ UV/ X-ray/ $γ$-ray during three different epochs, as obtained from Swift-UVOT/ Swift-XRT/ Fermi-LAT, are supplemented with the information available from the VHE telescope array, HAGAR. The longterm flux variability at the Fermi-LAT energies is clearly found to be lognormal. It is seen that the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of …
The external Compton (EC) model is used to study the high energy emission of some blazars, in which the external photon field is considered to dominate inverse Compton radiation. We explore the properties of external photon field through analyzing the FERMI LAT bright AGN sample within three months detection. In the sample, assuming the high energy radiation of low synchrotron peaked blazars from the EC process, we find that the external photon parameter Uext/\nuext may not be a constant. Calculating synchrotron and inverse Compton (IC) luminosity from the quasi-simultaneous broadband spectrum…
Blazars are the most extreme class of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Despite a previous investigation at 102 MHz for a small sample of BL Lacs and our recent analysis of blazars detected in the Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS), a systematic study of the blazar spectral properties at frequencies below 100 MHz has been never carried out. In this paper, we present the first analysis of the radio spectral behavior of blazars based on the recent Very Large Array Low-Frequency Sky Survey (VLSS) at 74 MHz. We search for blazar counterparts in the VLSS catalog confirming that they are detected a…
We report on Gemini, NuSTAR and 8-year Fermi observations of the most distant blazar QSO~J0906$+$6930 ($z=5.48$). We construct a broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) and model the SED using a synchro-Compton model. The measurements find a $\sim 4 \times 10^9 M_\odot$ mass for the black hole and a spectral break at $\sim$4 keV in the combined fit of the new NuSTAR and archival Chandra data. The SED fitting constrains the bulk Doppler factor $δ$ of the jet to $9^{+2.5}_{-3}$ for QSO~J0906$+$6930. Similar, but weaker $δ$ constraints are derived from SED modeling of the three other claimed…
We present the results of a detailed multi-wavelength study of a sample of sixteen narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies known in $γ$-rays so far. This includes a focused X-ray spectral analysis, to compare them with a more general NLSy1 population, and a broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling considering the leptonic radiative processes to understand their similarity/dissimilarity with blazars. The X-ray spectra of $γ$-NLSy1 galaxies exhibit similarities both with typical NLSy1 sources below $\lesssim$2 keV and blazars at higher energies. We also find weak evidences of excess …
The internal shocks scenario in relativistic jets is used to explain the variability of the blazar emission. Recent studies have shown that the magnetic field significantly alters the shell collision dynamics, producing a variety of spectral energy distributions and light-curves patterns. However, the role played by magnetization in such emission processes is still not entirely understood. In this work we numerically solve the magnetohydodynamic evolution of the magnetized shells collision, and determine the influence of the magnetization on the observed radiation. Our procedure consists in sy…
Blazar jets are extreme environments, in which relativistic proton interactions with an ultraviolet photon field could give rise to photopion production. High-confidence associations of individual high-energy neutrinos with blazar flares could be achieved via spatially and temporally coincident detections. In 2017, the track-like, extremely high-energy neutrino event IC 170922A was found to coincide with increased $γ$-ray emission from the blazar TXS 0506+056, leading to the identification of the most promising neutrino point source candidate so far. We calculate the expected number of neutrin…
We report on OVRO, WISE, Swift and Fermi-LAT observations of the high redshift blazar CGRaBS J0733+0456, from which significant flux variations in radio, infrared (IR) as well as $γ$-ray domains are detected. Particularly, the amplitude of long-term IR variation is over one order of magnitude and the IR variability timescale can be constrained as short as a few hours in the source frame. The IR and $γ$-ray light curves are found to be rather similar, and the strong quasi-simultaneous infrared and $γ$-ray flares are proved to be unique among the nearby $γ$-ray sources. This is the first time to…
We compiled the radio, optical, and X-ray data of blazars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database, and presented the distribution of luminosities and broad band spectral indices. The distribution of luminosities shows that the averaged luminosity of flat-spectral radio quasars (FSRQs) is larger than that of BL Lacs objects. On the other hand, the broad band spectral energy distribution reveals that FSRQs and low energy peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) objects have similar spectral properties, but high energy peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs) have a distinct spectral property. This may be due …
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…
In this paper, we discuss an artificial intelligence based approach to constrain the redshift of blazars using combined $γ$--ray observations from the \emph{Fermi} Large Area Telescope (LAT) and ground based atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (ACTs) in GeV and \emph{sub} TeV energy regimes respectively. The spectral measurements in GeV and TeV energy bands show a redshift dependent spectral break in the $γ$--ray spectra of blazars. We use this observational feature of blazars to constrain their redshift. The observed spectral information of blazars with known redshifts reported in the \emph{Ferm…
One of the most intriguing and challenging quests of current astrophysics is to understand the physical conditions and processes responsible for production of high-energy particles, and emission of γ-rays. A combination of high-resolution Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) images with broadband flux variability measurements is a unique way to probe the emission mechanisms at the bases of jets. Our analysis of γ-ray flux variability observed by the Fermi-LAT (Large Area Telescope) along with the parsec-scale jet kinematics suggests that the $γ$-ray emission in blazar S5 0716+714 has a sig…
Blazars, a subset of powerful active galactic nuclei, feature relativistic jets that shine in a broadband electromagnetic radiation, e. g. from radio to TeV emission. Here I present the results of the studies that explore gamma-ray and optical variability properties of a sample of gamma-ray bright sources Several methods of time-series analyses are performed on the decade-long optical and Fermi/LAT observations. The main results are as follows: The sources are found highly variable in both the bands, and the gamma-ray power spectral density is found to be consistent with flicker noise suggesti…
The uncharted territory of the high-redshift ($z\gtrsim3$) Universe holds the key to understand the evolution of quasars. In an attempt to identify the most extreme members of the quasar population, i.e., blazars, we have carried out a multi-wavelength study of a large sample of radio-loud quasars beyond $z=3$. Our sample consists of 9 $γ$-ray detected blazars and 133 candidate blazars selected based on the flatness of their soft X-ray spectra (0.3$-$10 keV photon index $\leq1.75$), including 15 with NuSTAR observations. The application of the likelihood profile stacking technique reveals that…
A study of blazar PKS 1424-418 was carried out using multi waveband data collected by Fermi-LAT, Swift-XRT, Swift-UVOT and SMARTS telescopes between MJD 56000 to MJD 56600 (14 Mar 2012 to 4 Nov 2013). Two flaring episodes were identified by analysing the gamma ray light curve. Simultaneous multi waveband Spectral Energy Distributions (SED) were obtained for those two flaring periods. A cross-correlation analysis of IR-Optical and $γ$-ray data suggested the origin of these emissions from the same region. We have set a lower limit for the Doppler factor using the highest energy photon observed f…
