PG 1553+113 is the first blazar showing an approximately two-year quasi-periodic pattern in its gamma-ray light curve. Such quasi-periodicity might have a geometrical origin, possibly related to the precessing nature of the jet, or could be intrinsic to the source and related to pulsational accretion flow instabilities. By means of a ~2yr very long baseline array (VLBA) monitoring at 15, 24, and 43 GHz we investigate the source pc-scale properties during an entire cycle of gamma-ray activity in the period 2015-2017. In contrast to the well-defined periodicity in the gamma-ray emission, at radio frequencies no clear periodic pattern can be recognized. The jet position angle, constrained by means of the total intensity ridge line, varies across the different observing epochs in the range 40-60 deg. We also investigate the time evolution of the source polarization properties, including the rotation measure. The brightness temperature is found to decrease as the frequency increases with an intrinsic value of ~1.5 x 10^10 K and the estimated Doppler factor is ~1.4.
We performed multi-frequency studies on the gigahertz-peaked spectrum high-redshift quasar 0858-279. Initially, the source presented itself in the early VLBI images as a very peculiar resolved blob. We observed the quasar with the VLBA at 1.4-24 GHz in a dual-polarization mode. The high spatial resolution and the spectral index maps enabled us to resolve the core-jet structure and locate a weak and compact core by its inverted spectrum. The dominant jet component 20 parsecs away from the core was optically thin above 10 GHz and opaque below it. We also estimated an uncommonly strong magnetic f…
A Parsec-Scale Transient High-Frequency-Peaked Radio Source in the Very Large Array Sky Survey Brightening and Fading over a Decadal Timescale
David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto（多伦多大学戴维·A·邓普天文学与天体物理学系）；Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto（多伦多大学邓普天文学与天体物理学研究所）；Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz（加州大学圣克鲁兹分校天文学与天体物理学系）；National Radio Astronomy Observatory（美国国家射电天文台）
In this work, we report a radio galaxy with precessing jets, double-peaked emission lines and the presence of two compact radio components with a projected separation of ~6 parsec in Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations. The emission line peak separations could be suggesting the presence of a supermassive black hole binary (BBH) with a separation of 6.3 parsec, matching the VLBI results. The kinematic jet precession model applied to the jets of J1328+2751 indicates that if it is a BBH, the accretion disk of the primary black hole is not coplanar with the binary system orbit, m…
We present new multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of a set of TeV blazars drawn from our VLBA program to monitor all TeV-detected high-frequency peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs) at parsec scales. Most of these sources are faint in the radio, so they have not been well observed with VLBI by other surveys. Our previous measurements of apparent jet speeds in TeV HBLs showed apparent jet speeds that were subluminal or barely superluminal, suggesting jets with velocity structures at the parsec-scale. Here we present apparent jet speed measurements for eight new TeV HBLs, which for…
We analysed the parsec-scale linear polarization properties of 436 active galactic nuclei (AGN) based on 15 GHz polarimetric Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations. We present polarization and total intensity images averaged over at least five epochs since 1996 January 19 through 2019 August 4. Stacking improves the image sensitivity down to $\sim$30 $μ$Jy/beam and effectively fills out the jet cross-section both in total intensity and linear polarization. It delineates the long-term persistent magnetic field configuration and its regularity by restoring spatial distributions of the elec…
The quasar SDSS J153636.22+044127.0, exhibiting peculiar broad emission-line profiles with multiple components, was proposed as a candidate sub-parsec binary supermassive black hole system. More recently, imaging revealed two spatially distinct sources, leading some to suggest the system to be a quasar pair separated by ~5 kpc. We present Palomar and Keck optical spectra of this system from which we identify a third velocity component to the emission lines. We argue that the system is more likely an unusual member of the class of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) known as "double-peaked emitters" …
We present an analysis of the core linear polarization properties of 387 parsec-scale active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets. Using 15 GHz VLBA data, we revisit the conclusions of the first paper in this series with multi-epoch measurements and more detailed analysis of a larger AGN sample which spans a broader range of synchrotron peak frequencies. Each AGN has been observed for at least five epochs between 1996 and 2017. We find that BL Lac objects have core electric vector position angles (EVPAs) which tend towards alignment with the local jet direction; compared to flat spectrum radio quasars (…
We report on our observations of the parsec-scale radio jet structures of five blazars that have been detected by ground-based TeV gamma-ray telescopes. These five blazars all belong to the class of high-frequency peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs), which are the most common blazar type detected at the TeV energy range. Because of their relative faintness in the radio, these HBLs are not well represented in other radio blazar surveys. Our observations consist of five epochs of Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) imaging from 2006 to 2009, of each of the five blazars 1ES 1101-232, Markarian 180, 1ES 1218…
Dual/binary Supermassive Black Hole (SMBH) systems are the inevitable consequence of the current Lambda Cold Dark Matter cosmological paradigm. In this context, we discuss here the properties of MCG+11-11-032, a local (z=0.0362) Seyfert 2 galaxy. This source was proposed as a dual AGN candidate on the basis of the presence of double-peaked [OIII] emission lines in its optical spectrum. MCG+11-11-032 is also an X-ray variable source and was observed several times by the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT) on time scales from days to years. In this work, we analyze the SDSS-DR13 spectrum and find eviden…
Recently a population of compact radio galaxies were classified as Fanaroff-Riley type 0 radio galaxies (FR 0s). The physical nature of FR 0s and the connection with the classical FR I and II galaxies are not currently well understood. Here, we report the radio properties of fourteen FR 0s on parsec (pc) scales derived from their very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) imaging observations. All sources show compact structures. Four sources show relativistic beaming with Doppler boosting factors ranging from 1.7 to 6. The brightness temperatures of the other ten are below the equilibrium limit…
We present 1625 new 15 GHz (2 cm) VLBA images of 295 jets associated with active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the MOJAVE and 2 cm VLBA surveys, spanning observations between 1994 Aug 31 and 2013 Aug 20. For 274 AGNs with at least 5 VLBA epochs, we have analyzed the kinematics of 961 individual bright features in their parsec-scale jets. A total of 122 of these jets have not been previously analyzed by the MOJAVE program. In the case of 451 jet features that had at least 10 epochs, we also examined their kinematics for possible accelerations. At least half of the well-sampled features have non-r…
The parsec-scale radio properties of 232 active galactic nuclei (AGNs), most of which are blazars, detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have been observed contemporaneously by the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 5 GHz. Data from both the first 11 months (1FGL) and the first 2 years (2FGL) of the Fermi mission were used to investigate these sources' gamma-ray properties. We use the ratio of the gamma-ray to radio luminosity as a measure of gamma-ray loudness. We investigate the relationship of several radio properties to gamma-ray loudness a…
We have used single-dish centimeter-band, multi-frequency linear polarization and total flux density monitoring observations obtained by UMRAO at 14.5, 8, and 4.8 GHz during gamma-ray flaring to constrain propagating shock-in-jet models; this procedure allows us to probe jet conditions at or near the presumed parsec-scale gamma-ray emission site within the relativistic jet. Results are presented for the blazar 0420-014 during the gamma-ray flare detected by the LAT which peaked in late January 2010. Our work identifies the passage of three forward-moving transverse shocks during the radio-band…
Ap Lib is one of the rare Low Synchrotron Peaked blazars detected so far at TeV energies. This type of source is not properly modelled by standard one-zone leptonic Synchrotron-self-Compton (SSC) emission scenarios. The aim of this paper is to study the relevance of additional components which should naturally occur in a SSC scenario for a better understanding of the emission mechanisms, especially at very high energies (VHE). Methods. We use simultaneous data from a multi-wavelength campaign of Planck, Swift-UVOT and Swift-XRT telescopes carried out in February 2010, as well as quasi-simultan…
We investigate the Fermi LAT gamma-ray and 15 GHz VLBA radio properties of a joint gamma-ray- and radio-selected sample of AGNs obtained during the first 11 months of the Fermi mission (2008 Aug 4 - 2009 Jul 5). Our sample contains the brightest 173 AGNs in these bands above declination -30 deg. during this period, and thus probes the full range of gamma-ray loudness (gamma-ray to radio band luminosity ratio) in the bright blazar population. The latter quantity spans at least four orders of magnitude, reflecting a wide range of spectral energy distribution (SED) parameters in the bright blazar…
We present results from a parsec-scale jet kinematics study of 409 bright radio-loud AGNs based on 15 GHz VLBA data obtained between 1994 August 31 and 2016 December 26 as part of the 2cm VLBA survey and MOJAVE programs. We tracked 1744 individual bright features in 382 jets over at least five epochs. A majority (59%) of the best-sampled jet features showed evidence of accelerated motion at the >3sigma level. Although most features within a jet typically have speeds within ~40% of a characteristic median value, we identified 55 features in 42 jets that had unusually slow pattern speeds, nearly…
The Gamma-ray BL Lac object OJ 287 is known to exhibit inner-parsec "jet-wobbling", high degrees of variability at all wavelengths and quasi-stationary features including an apparent (~100 deg) position angle change in projection on the sky plane. Sub-50 micro-arcsecond resolution 86 GHz observations with the global mm-VLBI array (GMVA) supplement ongoing multi-frequency VLBI blazar monitoring at lower frequencies. Using these maps together with cm/mm total intensity and Gamma-ray observations from Fermi/LAT from 2008-2014, we aimed to determine the location of Gamma-ray emission and to explai…
The empirical relations in the black hole-accretion disk-relativistic jet system and physical processes behind these relations are still poorly understood, partly because they operate close to the black hole within the central light year. Very long baseline array (VLBA) provides unparalleled resolution at 15 GHz with which to observe the jet components at sub-milliarcsecond scales, corresponding to sub-pc-scales for local blazars. We discuss the jet inner structure of blazars, location and radiation mechanisms operating in the innermost parsec-scale region of blazars, and evidence for jet-exci…
We introduce the TELAMON program, which is using the Effelsberg 100-m telescope to monitor the radio spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) under scrutiny in astroparticle physics, namely TeV blazars and candidate neutrino-associated AGN. Thanks to its large dish aperture and sensitive instrumentation, the Effelsberg telescope can yield radio data superior over other programs in the low flux-density regime down to several 10 mJy. This is a particular strength in the case of TeV-emitting blazars, which are often comparatively faint radio sources of the high-synchrotron peaked type. We perform …
We searched for high-z quasars within the X-ray source population detected in the contiguous $\sim 140^2$ eFEDS field observed by eROSITA during the performance verification phase. We collected the available spectroscopic information in the field, including the sample of all currently known optically selected z>5.5 quasars and cross-matched secure Legacy DR8 counterparts of eROSITA-detected X-ray point-like sources with this spectroscopic sample. We report the X-ray detection of an eROSITA source securely matched to the well-known quasar SDSS J083643.85+005453.3 (z=5.81). The soft X-ray flux o…
Exceptional Gamma-Ray Flaring Activity of the Blazar S4 0954+65 in Early 2025
Shanghai Normal University（上海师范大学）；Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学）；Yunnan Observatories（云南天文台）；National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）
The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) revealed that blazars, representing the most extreme radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) population, dominate the census of the gamma-ray sky, and a significant correlation was found between radio and gamma-ray emission in the 0.1-100 GeV energy range. However, the possible connection between radio and very high energy (VHE, E>0.1 TeV) emission still remains elusive, owing to the lack of a homogeneous coverage of the VHE sky. The main goal of this work is to quantify and assess the significance of a possible connection between the radio emission on pars…
The very-high-energy (VHE, $\gtrsim 100$ GeV) $γ$-ray MAGIC observations of the blazar S4 0954+65, were triggered by an exceptionally high flux state of emission in the optical. This blazar has a disputed redshift of z=0.368 or z$\geqslant$0.45 and an uncertain classification among blazar subclasses. The exceptional source state described here makes for an excellent opportunity to understand physical processes in the jet of S4 0954+65 and thus contribute to its classification. We investigate the multiwavelength (MWL) light curve and spectral energy distribution (SED) of the S4 0954+65 blazar d…
