With bolometric luminosities exceeding $10^{48}$ erg s$^{-1}$, powerful jets and supermassive black holes at their center, MeV blazars are some of the most extreme sources in the Universe. Recently, the Fermi-Large Area Telescope detected five new $γ$-ray emitting MeV blazars beyond redshift $z=3.1$. With the goal of precisely characterizing the jet properties of these extreme sources, we started a multiwavelength campaign to follow them up with joint NuSTAR, Swift and SARA observations. We observe six high-redshift quasars, four of them belonging to the new $γ$-ray emitting MeV blazars. Thorough X-ray analysis reveals spectral flattening at soft X-ray for three of these objects. The source NVSS J151002$+$570243 also shows a peculiar re-hardening of the X-ray spectrum at energies $E>6\,\rm keV$. Adopting a one-zone leptonic emission model, this combination of hard X-rays and $γ$-rays enables us to determine the location of the Inverse Compton peak and to accurately constrain the jet characteristics. In the context of the jet-accretion disk connection, we find that all six sources have jet powers exceeding accretion disk luminosity, seemingly validating this positive correlation even beyond $z>3$. Our six sources are found to have $10^9 \rm M_{\odot}$ black holes, further raising the space density of supermassive black holes in the redshift bin $z=[3,4]$.
We observed with the NuSTAR satellite 3 blazars at z>2, detected in gamma-rays by Fermi/LAT and in the soft X-rays, but not yet observed above 10 keV. The flux and slope of their X-ray continuum, together with Fermi/LAT data allows us to estimate their total electromagnetic output and peak frequency. For some of them we can study the source in different states, and investigate the main cause of the observed different spectral energy distribution. We then collected all blazars at redshift greater than 2 observed by NuSTAR, and confirm that these hard and luminous X-ray blazars are among the mos…
Hard X-ray observations are crucial to study the non-thermal jet emission from high-redshift, powerful blazars. We observed two bright z>2 flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in hard X-rays to explore the details of their relativistic jets and their possible variability. S5 0014+81 (at z=3.366) and B0222+185 (at z=2.690) have been observed twice by the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) simultaneously with Swift/XRT, showing different variability behaviours. We found that NuSTAR is instrumental to explore the variability of powerful high-redshift blazars, even when no gamma-ray emi…
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 …
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…
The most powerful sources among the blazar family are MeV blazars. Often detected at $z>2$, they usually display high X- and \gm-ray luminosities, larger-than-average jet powers and black hole masses $\gtrsim 10^9 M_{\odot}$. In the present work we perform a multiwavelength study of three high redshift blazars: 3FGL J0325.5+2223 ($z=2.06$), 3FGL J0449.0+1121 ($z= 2.15$), and 3FGL J0453.2$-$2808 ($z=2.56$), analysing quasi simultaneous data from GROND, \swift-UVOT and XRT, \nustar, and \fermi-LAT. Our main focus is on the hard X-ray band recently unveiled by \nustar~(3$-$79 keV) where these obj…
We report the first results of timing and spectral studies of \textit{Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR)} observations of six TeV emitting high-frequency peaked blazars: 1ES 0347$-$121, 1ES 0414$+$009, RGB J0710$+$591, 1ES 1101$-$232, 1ES 1218$+$304 and H 2356-309. Two out of these six TeV blazars, 1ES 1101$-$232 and 1ES 1218$+$304, showed strong evidence of intraday variations in the 3--79 keV energy range during those observations. We also found a hint of an intraday variability timescale of 23.5 ks in the light curve of 1ES 1218$+$304 using an autocorrelation function analysis. …
Context. Investigation of the hard X-ray emission properties of blazars is key to the understanding of the central engine of the sources and associated jet process. In particular, simultaneous spectral and timing analyses of the intra-day hard X-ray observations provide us a means to peer into the compact innermost blazar regions, not accessible to our current instruments. Aims. The primary objective of the work is to associate the observed hard X-ray variability properties in the blazars to their flux and spectral states, thereby, based on the correlation among them, extract the details about…
We report the results of a multifrequency campaign targeting S5 0716+714 in the flaring state of the source observed in 2015 January and February. The observations have been performed using the following instruments: Fermi/Large Area Telescope (LAT), Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, X-ray Telescope and Ultraciolet/Optical Telescope. The elevated flux level was visible in all frequencies and the outburst consists of five sub-flares. In this paper we focus on the analysis of the X-ray observations both in the soft and hard regimes for data collected with NuStar and Swift/XRT. This is the f…
Blazars are a peculiar class of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that enlighten the sky at all wavelengths. The electromagnetic emission of these sources is jet-dominated resulting in a spectral energy distribution (SED) that has a typical double-humped shape. X-ray photons provide a wealth of information on the physics of each source as in the X-ray band we can observe the tail of SED first peak, the rise of the second one or the transition between the two. NuSTAR, thanks to its capability of focusing X-rays up to 79 keV provides broadband data particularly suitable to compute SEDs in a still po…
MeV blazars are a sub--population of the blazar family, exhibiting larger--than--average jet powers, accretion luminosities and black hole masses. Because of their extremely hard X--ray continua, these objects are best studied in the X-ray domain. Here, we report on the discovery by the $Fermi$ Large Area Telescope and subsequent follow-up observations with $NuSTAR$, $Swift$ and GROND of a new member of the MeV blazar family: PMN J0641$-$0320. Our optical spectroscopy provides confirmation that this is a flat--spectrum radio quasar located at a redshift of $z=1.196$. Its very hard $NuSTAR$ spe…
We report on the detection of excess hard X-ray emission from the TeV BL Lac object Mrk421 during the historical low-flux state of the source in January 2013. NuSTAR observations were conducted four times between MJD56294 and MJD56312 with a total exposure of 80.9 ksec. The source flux in the 3-40 keV range was nearly constant except for MJD56307, when the average flux level increased by a factor of three. Throughout the exposure, the X-ray spectra of Mrk421 were well represented by a steep power-law model with a photon index of 3.1, although a significant excess was noted above 20 keV in the …
B2 1023+25 is an extremely radio-loud quasar at z=5.3 which was first identified as a likely high-redshift blazar candidate in the SDSS+FIRST quasar catalog. Here we use the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) to investigate its non-thermal jet emission, whose high-energy component we detected in the hard X-ray energy band. The X-ray flux is ~5.5x10^(-14) erg cm^(-2)s^(-1) (5-10keV) and the photon spectral index is Gamma_X=1.3-1.6. Modeling the full spectral energy distribution, we find that the jet is oriented close to the line of sight, with a viewing angle of ~3deg, and has signi…
During a period of strong $γ$-ray flaring activity from BL Lacertae, we organized Swift, Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), and Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) follow-up observations. The source has been monitored by Swift-XRT (X-ray Telescope) between 2020 August 11 and October 16, showing a variability amplitude of 65, with a flux varying between 1.0 $\times$ 10$^{-11}$ and 65.3 $\times$ 10$^{-11}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. On 2020 October 6, Swift-XRT has observed the source during its historical maximum X-ray flux. A softer-when-brighter behaviour has been obs…
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…
The most powerful blazars are the flat spectrum radio quasars whose emission is dominated by a Compton component peaking between a few hundred keV and a few hundred MeV. We selected two bright blazars, PKS 2149-306 at redshift z=2.345 and S5 0836+710 at z=2.172, in order to observe them in the hard X-ray band with the NuSTAR satellite. In this band the Compton component is rapidly rising almost up to the peak of the emission. Simultaneous soft-X-rays and UV-optical observations were performed with the Swift satellite, while near-infrared (NIR) data were obtained with the REM telescope. To stud…
We report the first hard X-ray observations with NuSTAR of the BL Lac type blazar PKS 2155-304, augmented with soft X-ray data from XMM-Newton and gamma-ray data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope, obtained in April 2013 when the source was in a very low flux state. A joint NuSTAR and XMM spectrum, covering the energy range 0.5 - 60 keV, is best described by a model consisting of a log-parabola component with curvature beta = 0.3(+0.2,-0.1) and a (local) photon index 3.04 +/- 0.15 at photon energy of 2 keV, and a hard power-law tail with photon index 2.2 +/- 0.4. The hard X-ray tail can be sm…
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…
High synchrotron peak (HSP; $ν_{sy}^{pk} > 10^{15}$ Hz) BL Lacs are some of the most extreme accelerators in the Universe. Those found at high redshifts ($z>1$) challenge our understanding of blazar evolution models and are crucial for cosmological measurements of the Extragalactic Background Light. In this paper, we study a high-$z$ BL Lac, 4FGL J2146.5-1344, detected to be at $z$=1.34 using the photometric dropout technique. We collected multi-wavelength data for this source from optical up to $γ$-rays, in order to study its spectral energy distribution (SED). In particular, this source was …
The recent spatial and temporal coincidence of the blazar TXS 0506+056 with the IceCube detected neutrino event IC-170922A has opened up a realm of multi-messenger astronomy with blazar jets as a plausible site of cosmic-ray acceleration. After TXS 0506+056, a second blazar, BZB J0955+3551, has recently been found to be spatially coincident with the IceCube detected neutrino event IC-200107A and undergoing its brightest X-ray flare measured so far. Here, we present the results of our multi-frequency campaign to study this peculiar event that includes observations with the NuSTAR, Swift, NICER,…
The possible association of the blazar TXS 0506+056 with a high-energy neutrino detected by IceCube holds the tantalizing potential to answer three astrophysical questions: 1. Where do high-energy neutrinos originate? 2. Where are cosmic rays produced and accelerated? 3. What radiation mechanisms produce the high-energy γ-rays in blazars? The MeV gamma-ray band holds the key to these questions, because it is an excellent proxy for photo-hadronic processes in blazar jets, which also produce neutrino counterparts. Variability in MeV gamma-rays sheds light on the physical conditions and mechanism…
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 NuSTAR Legacy program 'Unidentified INTEGRAL sources' targeted faint hard X-ray sources revealed by INTEGRAL in the Galactic plane in order to provide conclusive identification of their nature and insights on the population of faint hard X-ray sources. The NuSTAR and Swift/XRT observations obtained in 2015-2017 contributed to the successful identification of five persistent sources. Here, we report on the spectral and variability analyses which helped to consolidate the classifications of IGR J10447-6027, IGR J16181-5407 and IGR J20569+4940 as active galactic nuclei, and IGR J17402-3656 as…
We report on Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) hard X-ray observations of the young rotation-powered radio pulsar PSR B1509$-$58 in the supernova remnant MSH 15$-$52. We confirm the previously reported curvature in the hard X-ray spectrum, showing that a log parabolic model provides a statistically superior fit to the spectrum compared with the standard power law. The log parabolic model describes the NuSTAR data, as well as previously published gamma-ray data obtained with COMPTEL and AGILE, all together spanning 3 keV through 500 MeV. Our spectral modelling allows us to constrai…
We report the results of a multi-band observing campaign on the famous blazar 3C 279 conducted during a phase of increased activity from 2013 December to 2014 April, including first observations of it with NuSTAR. The $γ$-ray emission of the source measured by Fermi-LAT showed multiple distinct flares reaching the highest flux level measured in this object since the beginning of the Fermi mission, with $F(E > 100\,{\rm MeV})$ of $10^{-5}$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, and with a flux doubling time scale as short as 2 hours. The $γ$-ray spectrum during one of the flares was very hard, with an ind…
The results of the first ever contemporaneous multi-wavelength observation campaign on the BL Lac object PKS2155-304 involving Swift, NuSTAR, Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. are reported. The use of these instruments allows us to cover a broad energy range, important for disentangling the different radiative mechanisms. The source, observed from June 2013 to October 2013, was found in a low flux state with respect to previous observations but exhibited highly significant flux variability in the X-rays. The high-energy end of the synchrotron spectrum can be traced up to 40 keV without significant contam…
We derive the most up-to-date Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) blazar luminosity function in the 14-195 keV range, making use of a clean sample of 118 blazars detected in the BAT 105-month survey catalog, with newly obtained redshifts from the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS). We determine the best-fit X-ray luminosity function for the whole blazar population, as well as for Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs) alone. The main results are: (1) at any redshift, BAT detects the most luminous blazars, above any possible break in their luminosity distribution, which means we cannot differentiat…
Located at the center of the Perseus cluster, 3C 84 is an extremely bright and nearby radio galaxy. Because of the strong diffuse thermal emission from the cluster in X-rays, the detailed properties and the origin of a power-law component from the central active galactic nucleus (AGN) remains unclear in the source. We report here the first NuSTAR observations of 3C 84. The source was observed for 24.2 and 32 ks on February 01 and 04, 2018, respectively. NuSTAR observations spectrally decompose the power-law AGN component above 10 keV. The power-law component dominates the spectrum above 20 keV…
The well studied blazar Markarian 421 (Mrk 421, $z$=0.031) was the subject of an intensive multi-wavelength campaign when it flared in 2013 April. The recorded X-ray and very high energy (VHE, E$>$100 GeV) $γ$-ray fluxes are the highest ever measured from this object. At the peak of the activity, it was monitored by the hard X-ray focusing telescope {\it Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array} ({\it NuSTAR}) and {\it Swift} X-Ray Telescope (XRT). In this work, we present a detailed variability analysis of {\it NuSTAR} and {\it Swift}-XRT observations of Mrk 421 during this flaring episode. We o…
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.
The "blazar simplified view" is a new paradigm that explains well the diverse statistical properties of blazars observed over the entire electromagnetic spectrum on the basis of minimal assumptions on blazars' physical and geometrical properties. In this paper, the fourth in a series, we extend the predictions of this paradigm below the sensitivity of existing surveys and estimate the contribution of blazars to the X-ray and gamma-ray extragalactic backgrounds. We find that the integrated light from blazars can explain up to 100% of the cosmic background at energies larger than ~10 GeV, and co…
We report on Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and multi-wavelength results on the recently-discovered very-high-energy (VHE, $E>$ 100 GeV) blazar S4 0954+65 ($z=0.368$) during an exceptionally bright optical flare in 2015 February. During the time period (2015 February, 13/14, or MJD 57067) when the MAGIC telescope detected VHE $γ$-ray emission from the source, the Fermi-LAT data indicated a significant spectral hardening at GeV energies, with a power-law photon index of $1.8 \pm 0.1$---compared with the 3FGL value (averaged over four years of observation) of $2.34 \pm 0.04$. In contrast, Swif…
Neutrino detections identified with multiwavelength blazar spectra represent the first $\g$-ray-neutrino multimessenger signals. The blazar, TXS 0506+056 is also unusual in its spectral expressions over time and there are a number of models in the literature which have been proposed. In this work, we model the TXS 0506+056 data during two epochs of neutrino co-observation using a range of Fokker-Planck derived solutions, and simulate the expected response of the proposed AMEGO-X mission for a set of physically plausible scenarios.
Markarian Multiwavelength Data Center (MMDC): A Tool for Retrieving and Modeling Multi-temporal, Multi-wavelength and Multi-messenger Data from Blazar Observations
High-redshift ($z>2$) blazars are the most powerful members of the blazar family. Yet, only a handful of them have both X-ray and $γ$-ray detection, thereby making it difficult to characterize the energetics of the most luminous jets. Here, we report, for the first time, the Fermi-Large Area Telescope detection of the significant $γ$-ray emission from the high-redshift blazar DA 193 ($z=2.363$). Its time-averaged $γ$-ray spectrum is soft ($γ$-ray photon index = $2.9\pm0.1$) and together with a relatively flat hard X-ray spectrum (14$-$195 keV photon index = $1.5\pm0.4$), DA 193 presents a case…
Blazars are a class of AGN, one of their jets is pointed towards the earth. Here, we report about the multi-wavelength study for blazar S5 1803+78 between MJD 58727 to MJD 59419. We analysed $γ$-ray data collected by Fermi-LAT, X-ray data collected by Swift-XRT \& NuSTAR, optical photons detected by Swift-UVOT \& TUBITAK observatory in Turkey. Three flaring states are identified by analysing the $γ$-ray light curve. A day scale variability is observed throughout the flares with the similar rise and decay times suggesting a compact emission region located close to the central engine. Cross-corr…
Detectability of Polarized Gamma-ray Emission from Blazar Flares with COSI
Louisiana State University（路易斯安那州立大学）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova（意大利国家核物理研究所帕多瓦分部）；Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY（德国电子同步加速器）；Clemson University（克莱姆森大学）；Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz（美因茨约翰内斯古腾堡大学）；University of Maryland, College Park（马里兰大学帕克分校）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心）；NASA Marshall Space Flight Center（美国宇航局马歇尔太空飞行中心）；Foundation for Research（研究基金会）
Blazars are often characterized by a spectral break at soft X-rays, whose origin is still debated. While most sources show a flattening, some exhibit a blackbody-like soft excess with temperatures of the order of $\sim$0.1 keV, similar to low-luminosity, non-jetted Seyferts. Here we present the analysis of the simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observation of the luminous FSRQ 4C+25.05 ($z=2.368$). The observed 0.3-30 keV spectrum is best described by the sum of a hard X-ray power law ($Γ= 1.38_{-0.03}^{+0.05}$) and a soft component, approximated by a blackbody with $kT_{\rm BB} = 0.66_{-0.04}…
We present the results of a multi-frequency, time-averaged analysis of blazars included in the Candidate Gamma-ray Blazar Survey catalog. Our sample consists of 324 $γ$-ray detected ($γ$-ray loud) and 191 non $γ$-ray detected ($γ$-ray quiet) blazars, and we consider all the data up to 2016 April 1. We find that both the $γ$-ray loud and the $γ$-ray quiet blazar populations occupy similar regions in the WISE color-color diagram, and in the radio and X-ray bands $γ$-ray loud sources are brighter. A simple one-zone synchrotron inverse-Compton emission model is applied to derive the physical prope…
The blazar PKS~2155-304 was the target of a multiwavelength campaign from June to October 2013 which widely improves our knowledge of its spectral energy distribution. This campaign involved the NuSTAR satellite (3-79 keV), the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT, 100~MeV-300~GeV) and the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) array phase II (with an energy threshold of few tens of GeV). While the observations with NuSTAR extend the X-ray spectrum to higher energies than before, H.E.S.S. phase II, together with the use of the LAT PASS 8, enhance the coverage of the $γ$-ray regime with an unpre…
MeV blazars are the most luminous persistent sources in the Universe and emit most of their energy in the MeV band. These objects display very large jet powers and accretion luminosities and are known to host black holes with a mass often exceeding $10^9 M_{\odot}$. An MeV survey, performed by a new generation MeV telescope which will bridge the entire energy and sensitivity gap between the current generation of hard X-ray and gamma-ray instruments, will detect $>$1000 MeV blazars up to a redshift of $z=5-6$. Here we show that this would allow us: 1) to probe the formation and growth mechanism…
We report on detailed analysis of the hard X-ray and GeV gamma-ray spectra of LS 5039, one of the brightest gamma-ray binary system in the Galaxy. The NuSTAR observation covering its entire orbit in 2016 allowed us for the first time to study the orbital variability of the spectrum above 10 keV. The hard X-ray spectrum is well described with a single power-law component up to 78 keV. The X-ray flux showed a slight deviation from those observed previously with Suzaku in 2007. The fast X-ray brightening observed with Suzaku, around the inferior conjunction, was not observed in this observation. …
In this work, we investigate the 2014-2015 neutrino flare associated with the blazar TXS 0506+056 and a recently discovered muon neutrino event IceCube-200107A in spatial coincidence with the blazar 4FGL J0955.1+3551, under the framework of a two-zone radiation model of blazars where an inner/outer blob close to/far from the supermassive black hole are invoked. An interesting feature that the two sources share in common is that no evidence of GeV gamma-ray activity is found during the neutrino detection period, probably implying a large opacity for GeV gamma rays in the neutrino production reg…
Hard-TeV BL Lacs are a new type of blazars characterized by a hard intrinsic TeV spectrum, locating the peak of their gamma-ray emission in the spectral energy distribution (SED) above 2-10 TeV. Such high energies are problematic for the Compton emission, using a standard one-zone leptonic model. We study six examples of this new type of BL Lacs in the hard X-ray band with the NuSTAR satellite. Together with simultaneous observations with the SWIFT satellite, we fully constrain the peak of the synchrotron emission in their SED, and test the leptonic synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model. We con…
The detection of a high-energy neutrino from the flaring blazar TXS 0506+056 and the subsequent discovery of a neutrino excess from the same direction have strengthened the hypothesis that blazars are cosmic neutrino sources. The lack, however, of $γ$-ray flaring activity during the latter period challenges the standard scenario of correlated $γ$-ray and high-energy neutrino emission in blazars. We propose instead that TeV-PeV neutrinos are produced in coincidence with X-ray flares that are powered by proton synchrotron radiation. In this case, neutrinos are produced by photomeson interactions…
We report the extraordinary gamma-ray activity (E>100 MeV) of the gravitationally lensed blazar PKS 1830-211 (z=2.507) detected by AGILE between October and November 2010. The source experienced on October 14 a flux increase of a factor of ~ 12 with respect to its average value and kept brightest at this flux level (~ 500 x 10^{-8} ph cm^-2 sec^-1) for about 4 days. The 1-month gamma-ray light curve across the flare showed a mean flux F(E>100 MeV)= 200 x 10^{-8} ph cm^-2 sec^-1, which resulted in an enhancement by a factor of 4 with respect to the average value. Following the gamma-ray flare, …
Detection of the IceCube-170922A neutrino coincident with the flaring blazar TXS 0506+056, the first and only 3-sigma high-energy neutrino source association to date, offers a potential breakthrough in our understanding of high-energy cosmic particles and blazar physics. We present a comprehensive analysis of TXS 0506+056 during its flaring state, using newly collected Swift, NuSTAR, and X-shooter data with Fermi observations and numerical models to constrain the blazar's particle acceleration processes and multimessenger (electromagnetic and high-energy neutrino) emissions. Accounting properl…
We use 3 years of data from the Swift/BAT survey to select a complete sample of X-ray blazars above 15 keV. This sample comprises 26 Flat-Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs) and 12 BL Lac objects detected over a redshift range of 0.03<z<4.0. We use this sample to determine, for the first time in the 15--55 keV band, the evolution of blazars. We find that, contrary to the Seyfert-like AGNs detected by BAT, the population of blazars shows strong positive evolution. This evolution is comparable to the evolution of luminous optical QSOs and luminous X-ray selected AGNs. We also find evidence for an epo…
We present Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) hard X-ray timing and spectroscopy of the three exceptionally energetic rotation-powered millisecond pulsars PSRs B1821-24, B1937+21, and J0218+4232. By correcting the NuSTAR onboard clock for phase and frequency drifts between observation intervals, we are able to recover the intrinsic hard X-ray pulse profiles of all three pulsars with a resolution down to < 15 microsec. The substantial reduction of background emission relative to previous broadband X-ray observations allows us to detect for the first time pulsed emission up to ~50 ke…
The synergy between the Fermi-LAT and ground-based Cherenkov telescope arrays gives us the opportunity for the first time to characterize the high-energy emission from blazars over 5 decades in energy, from 100 MeV to 10 TeV. In this study, we perform a Fermi-LAT spectral analysis for TeV-detected blazars and combine it with archival TeV data. We examine the observational properties in the gamma-ray band of our sample of TeV-detected blazars and compare the results with X-ray and GeV-selected populations. The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) that result from combining Fermi-LAT and ground-…
