Progress in unveiling extreme particle acceleration in persistent astrophysical jets
Jonathan Biteau, Elisa Prandini, Luigi Costamante, Martin Lemoine, Paolo Padovani, Elisa Pueschel, Elisa Resconi, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Andrew Taylor, Andreas Zech
备注：
8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted version (posted 6 months after publication)
The most powerful persistent accelerators in the Universe are jetted active galaxies. Blazars, galaxies whose jets are directed towards Earth, dominate the extragalactic gamma-ray sky. Still, most of the highest-energy particle accelerators likely elude detection. These extreme blazars, whose radiated energy can peak beyond 10 TeV, are ideal targets to study particle acceleration and radiative processes, and may provide links to cosmic rays and astrophysical neutrinos. The growing number of extreme blazars observed at TeV energies has been critical for the emergence of gamma-ray cosmology, including measurements of the extragalactic background light, tight bounds on the intergalactic magnetic field, and constraints on exotic physics at energies inaccessible with human-made accelerators. Tremendous progress has been achieved over the past decade, which bodes well for the future, particularly with the deployment of the Cherenkov Telescope Array.
We report on the discovery of an apparent triple radio structure hidden inside the radio bubble of the ultraluminous X-ray source Holmberg II X-1. The morphology is consistent with a collimated jet structure, which is observed to emit optically thin synchrotron radiation. The central component has a steep radio spectrum and is brighter than the outer components indicating a renewed radio activity. We estimate a minimum time-averaged jet power of 2 x 10^{39} erg/s that is associated with a time-averaged isotropic X-ray luminosity of at least 4 x 10^{39} erg/s. Our results suggest that Holmberg …
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…
25 Years of Mrk 421 with XMM-Newton: Unveiling Structured Jets and Energy-Dependent Escape
School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学天文与空间科学学院）；Janusz Gil Institute of Astronomy, University of Zielona Góra（绿山城大学扬努什·吉尔天文学研究所）；Doctoral School of Exact and Technical Sciences, University of Zielona Góra（绿山城大学精确与技术科学博士学院）；Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院尼古拉·哥白尼天文学中心）
基于 XMM-Newton 25 年观测，对 Mrk 421 进行 X 射线光谱与变率分析，发现硬变率更强、通量分布类对数正态，且光谱需用断裂幂律或对数抛物线描述，支持结构化喷流或能量依赖逃逸模型。
The microquasar SS433 features the most energetic jets known in our Galaxy. A large fraction of the jet kinetic power is delivered to the surrounding W50 nebula at the jet termination shock, from which high-energy emission and cosmic-ray production have been anticipated. Here we report on the detection of a persistent gamma-ray signal from the direction of SS433/W50 with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. The steady flux and a narrow spectral energy distribution with a maximum around 250 MeV suggest that gamma-rays are rendered by the bulk jet kinetic power through proton-proton collisions at the…
Exploring Tidal Disruption Events with SKA and VLBI: Unveiling the Mystery of Black Hole Feeding and Outflows
Anhui Normal University（安徽师范大学）；Nanjing Normal University（南京师范大学）；University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；Huazhong University of Science and Technology（华中科技大学）；National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）
We have not identified for sure what is the mechanism launching, accelerating and collimating relativistic jets. The two most likely possibilities are the gravitational energy of the accreting matter or the rotational energy of a spinning black hole. Even the evaluation of the jet power is not trivial, since the radiation from the jet is enhanced by relativistic beaming, and there are fundamental uncertainties concerning the matter content of the jet (electron--proton or electron--positron plasma). However, in recent years, there have been crucial advances mainly driven by the richness of data…
Gamma Ray Burst sources are apparently evolving around us in a harder and brighter samples at far and far redshift. The average output may range from a near Supernova (nearest events) output to a billion time that power for most distant events. Such a tuned evolution around us is not an anti-copernican signature. It is a clear imprint of a off-axis (nearest sources) beaming versus a rarest in-axis blazing (far redshift sources) by a thin relativistic beam (Lorentz factor up ten thousand or above, corresponding to micro-nano steradian solid angle). The main consequence is the rarer and rarer pr…
Gamma Ray Bursts are detectable in the gamma-ray band if their jets are oriented towards the observer. However, for each GRB with a typical theta_jet, there should be ~2/theta_jet^2 bursts whose emission cone is oriented elsewhere in space. These off-axis bursts can be eventually detected when, due to the deceleration of their relativistic jets, the beaming angle becomes comparable to the viewing angle. Orphan Afterglows (OA) should outnumber the current population of bursts detected in the gamma-ray band even if they have not been conclusively observed so far at any frequency. We compute the …
Many theoretical models of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) predict that the X-ray corona, lying above the black hole, constitutes the base of the X-ray jet. Thus, by studying the exact geometry of the close black hole environment, we can pinpoint the launching site of the jet. Detection of negative X-ray reverberation time delays (i.e. soft band X-ray variations lagging behind the corresponding hard band X-ray variations) can yield significant information about the geometrical properties of the AGN, such as the location of the X-ray source, as well as the physical properties of the the black hole…
Last and nearest GRB-XRF 080109 has been an exceptional lesson on GRB nature. After a decade (since 25 April 08) we know that Supernovae may often contain a Jet. Its persistent activity may shine on axis as a GRBs. Such a persistent, thin beamed gamma jet may be powered by either a BH (Black Holes) or Pulsars. Late stages of these jets may loose the SN traces and appear as a short GRB or a long orphan GRB (depending on jet angular velocity and view angle). XRF are peripherical viewing of the jets. These precessing and spinning gamma jet are originated by Inverse Compton and-or Synchrotron Radi…
Extragalactic jets are launched from the innermost regions of galaxies, near the central supermassive black hole. As they propagate, they must cross the whole galaxy, and in this process they interact with a variety of obstacles; including gas clouds, populations of stars or even supernova remnants. The interaction between jets and penetrating obstacles has been studied as a possible method for jet mass-loading and deceleration, as well as of production of gamma-ray emission, through non-thermal particles accelerated in shocks. Interaction with individual objects, such as stars or gas clouds, …
Extragalactic jets are the most powerful persistent sources of the universe. Those pointing at us are called blazars. Their relativistically boosted emission extends from radio frequencies to TeV energies. They are also suspected to be the sources of energetic neutrinos and high energies cosmic rays. The study of their overall spectrum indicates that most of the emission of powerful blazars is in hard X-rays or in soft gamma-rays. In this band we can find the most powerful jets, visible also at high redshifts. It is found that the jet power is linked to the accretion luminosity, and exceeds it…
Discovered in 1996 by BeppoSAX during a single type-I burst event, SAX J1753.5-2349 was classified as "burst-only" source. Its persistent emission, either in outburst or in quiescence, had never been observed before October 2008, when SAX J1753.5-2349 was observed for the first time in outburst. Based on INTEGRAL observations,we present here the first high-energy emission study (above 10 keV) of a so-called "burst-only". During the outburst the SAX J1753.5-2349 flux decreased from 10 to 4 mCrab in 18-40 keV, while it was found being in a constant low/hard spectral state. The broad-band (0.3-10…
The physics of astrophysical jets can be divided into three regimes: (i) engine and launch (ii) propagation and collimation, (iii) dissipation and particle acceleration. Since astrophysical jets comprise a huge range of scales and phenomena, practicality dictates that most studies of jets intentionally or inadvertently focus on one of these regimes, and even therein, one body of work may be simply boundary condition for another. We first discuss long standing persistent mysteries that pertain the physics of each of these regimes, independent of the method used to study them. This discussion ma…
FR0s are compact radio sources that represent the bulk of the Radio-Loud (RL) AGN population, but they are still poorly understood. Pilot studies on these sources have been already performed at radio and optical wavelengths: here we present the first X-ray study of a sample of 19 FR0 radio galaxies selected from the SDSS/NVSS/FIRST sample of Best & Heckman (2012), with redshift $\leq$ 0.15, radio size $\leq$ 10 kpc and optically classified as low-excitation galaxies (LEG). The X-ray spectra are modeled with a power-law component absorbed by Galactic column density with, in some cases, a contri…
1ES 1218+304 is among a group of several TeV blazars that exhibit surprisingly hard energy spectra given their redshifts. The VERITAS collaboration has carried out an intensive observing campaign of 1ES 1218+304 in early 2009 to characterize the emission properties of one of these hard-spectra distant blazars in more detail. While hard-spectra TeV blazars are most promising for unveiling putative signatures from EBL absorption, they may also have implications on shock acceleration scenarios in relativistic jets. Our observations of 1ES 1218+304 demonstrate significant flux variability. Further…
The dynamics, energetics and evolution of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) and supernova remnants (SNRs), are strongly affected by their magnetic field strength and distribution. They are usually strong, extended, sources of non-thermal X-ray radiation, producing intrinsically polarised radiation. The energetic wind around pulsars produces a highly-magnetised, structured flow, often displaying a jet and a torus and different features (i.e. wisps, knots). This magnetic-dominant wind evolves as it moves away from the pulsar magnetosphere to the surrounding large-scale nebula, becoming kinetic-dominant…
The peculiar low mass X-ray binary XSSJ12270-4859, associated with the Fermi/LAT source 2FGLJ1227.7-4853, was in a X-ray, gamma-ray and optical low-luminosity persistent state for about a decade until the end of 2012, when it has entered into the dimmest state ever observed. The nature of the compact object has been controversial until the detection of a 1.69ms radio pulsar early 2014. We present optical spectroscopy and optical/near-IR photometry during the previous brighter and in the recent faint states. We determine the first spectroscopic orbital ephemeris and an accurate orbital period o…
We study long-term radio/X-ray correlations in Cyg X-1. We find the persistent existence of a compact radio jet in its soft state. This represents a new phenomenon in black-hole binaries, in addition to compact jets in the hard state and episodic ejections of ballistic blobs in the intermediate state. While the radio emission in the hard state is strongly correlated with both the soft and hard X-rays, the radio flux in the soft state is not directly correlated with the flux of the dominant disk blackbody in soft X-rays, but instead it is lagged by about a hundred days. We interpret the lag as …
Unveiling Multimessenger Emission from Hidden Cores of Microquasars
The Pennsylvania State University（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）；Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University（京都大学汤川理论物理研究所）；Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院高能物理研究所）；TIANFU Cosmic Ray Research Center（天府宇宙线研究中心）
Unveiling the dynamics of the ultra-fast outflow in IRAS 13224-3809 with X-ray spectroscopy
Università di Roma Tor Vergata（罗马托尔维加塔大学）；INFN - Rome Tor Vergata（罗马托尔维加塔国家核物理研究所）；INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma（罗马天文台意大利国家天体物理研究所）；INAF - Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali（空间天体物理学和行星科学研究所意大利国家天体物理研究所）；Space Science Data Center, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana（意大利航天局空间数据中心）
The central regions of galaxies are complex environments, rich in evolved and/or massive stars. For galaxies hosting an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with jets, the interaction of the jets with the winds of the stars within can lead to particle acceleration, and to extended high-energy emitting regions. We compute the non-thermal emission produced by the jet flow shocked by stellar winds on the jet scale, far from the jet-star direct interaction region. First, prescriptions for the winds of the relevant stellar populations in different types of galaxies are obtained. The scenarios adopted incl…
Extragalactic jets are formed close to supermassive black-holes in the center of galaxies. Large amounts of gas, dust, and stars cluster in the galaxy nucleus, and interactions between this ambient material and the jet base should be frequent, having dynamical as well as radiative consequences. This work studies the dynamical interaction of an obstacle, a clump of matter or the atmosphere of an evolved star, with the innermost region of an extragalactic jet. Jet mass-loading and the high-energy outcome of this interaction are briefly discussed. Relativistic hydrodynamical simulations with axia…
A Tale of Two Jets: Double Relativistic Outflows from Close Binary GRB Progenitors
Institute for Frontier in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学前沿天文与天体物理研究院）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学物理与天文学院）
The bright, erratic black hole X-ray binary GRS 1915+105 has long been a target for studies of disk instabilities, radio/infrared jets, and accretion disk winds, with implications that often apply to sources that do not exhibit its exotic X-ray variability. With the launch of NICER, we have a new opportunity to study the disk wind in GRS 1915+105 and its variability on short and long timescales. Here we present our analysis of 39 NICER observations of GRS 1915+105 collected during five months of the mission data validation and verification phase, focusing on Fe XXV and Fe XXVI absorption. We r…
Roche lobe overflow from a donor star onto a black hole or neutron star binary companion can evolve to a phase of unstable runaway mass-transfer, lasting as short as hundreds of orbits ($\lesssim 10^{2}$ yr for a giant donor), and eventually culminating in a common envelope event. The highly super-Eddington accretion rates achieved during this brief phase ($\dot{M} \gtrsim 10^{5}\dot{M}_{\rm Edd})$ are accompanied by intense mass-loss in disk winds, analogous but even more extreme than ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) sources in the nearby universe. Also in analogy with observed ULX, this expanding …
The innermost parts of powerful jets in active galactic nuclei are surrounded by dense, high-velocity clouds from the broad-line region, which may penetrate into the jet and lead to the formation of a strong shock. Such jet-cloud interactions are expected to have measurable effects on the $γ$-ray emission from blazars. We characterise the dynamics of a typical cloud-jet interaction scenario, and the evolution of its radiative output in the 0.1-30~GeV energy range, to assess to what extent these interactions can contribute to the $γ$-ray emission in blazars. We use semi-analytical descriptions …
Rapid gamma-ray flares pose an astrophysical puzzle, requiring mechanisms both to accelerate energetic particles and to produce fast observed variability. These dual requirements may be satisfied by collisionless relativistic magnetic reconnection. On the one hand, relativistic reconnection can energize gamma-ray emitting electrons. On the other, as previous kinetic simulations have shown, the reconnection acceleration mechanism preferentially focuses high-energy particles -- and their emitted photons -- into beams, which may create rapid blips in flux as they cross a telescope's line of sight…
SKA-VLBI Probes of High-energy Emission Processes in Relativistic Jets
University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学）；University of Bristol（布里斯托大学）；Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy（马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所）；Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC（甚长基线干涉测量联合研究所）；University of Turku（图尔库大学）；Aalto University（阿尔托大学）
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) with relativistic jets are the most powerful persistent astrophysical sources of electromagnetic radiation in the Universe. Blazars are the most extreme subclass of AGN with jets directed along the line of sight of the observer. Their high-energy photon emission dominates the extragalactic gamma-ray sky and reaches multi-TeV energies. This demonstrates that blazars accelerate particles to very high energies. It has long been suspected that blazars may also accelerate protons to very high energies and thus be cosmic neutrino sources. Being extremely rare objects in …
We present ultradeep radio observations with the Expanded Very Large Array of 4U 1957+11, a Galactic black hole candidate X-ray binary known to exist in a persistent soft X-ray state. We derive a stringent upper limit of 11.4 micro-Jy beam^-1 (3 sigma) at 5-7 GHz, which provides the most rigorous upper limit to date on the presence of jets in a soft state black hole X-ray binary. X-ray, UV and optical fluxes obtained within a few weeks of the radio data can be explained by thermal emission from the disk. At this X-ray luminosity, a hard state black hole X-ray binary that follows the establishe…
The emission from the relativistic jets in blazars usually outshines their host galaxies, challenging the determination of their distances and the characterization of the stellar population. The situation becomes more favorable in the case of the extreme blazars (EHBLs), for which the bulk of the emission of the relativistic jets is emitted at higher energies, unveiling the optical emission from the host galaxy. The distance determination is fundamental for the study of the intrinsic characteristics of the blazars, especially to estimate the intrinsic gamma-ray spectra distorted due to the int…
Aims: Probe the high-energy ($>$60 MeV) emission from the black hole X-ray binary system, Cygnus X-1, and investigate its origin. Methods: We analysed 7.5 yr of data by Fermi/LAT with the latest PASS8 software version. Results: We report the detection of a signal at $\sim$8 $σ$ statistical significance spatially coincident with Cygnus X-1 and a luminosity above 60 MeV of 5.5$\times$10$^{33}$ erg s$^{-1}$. The signal is correlated with the hard X-ray flux: the source is observed at high energies only during the hard X-ray spectral state, when the source is known to display persistent, relativis…
The nature of the central engines of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and the composition of their relativistic jets are still under debate. If the jets are Poynting flux dominated rather than baryon dominated, a coherent radio flare from magnetic re-connection events might be expected with the prompt gamma-ray emission. There are two competing models for the central engines of GRBs; a black hole or a newly formed milli-second magnetar. If the central engine is a magnetar it is predicted to produce coherent radio emission as persistent or flaring activity. In this paper, we present the deepest limits t…
Blazars are sources whose jet is pointing to us. Since their jets are relativistic, the flux is greatly amplified in the direction of motion, making blazars the most powerful persistent objects in the Universe. This is true at all frequencies, but especially where their spectrum peaks. Although the spectrum of moderate powerful sources peaks in the ~GeV range, extremely powerful sources at high redshifts peak in the ~MeV band. This implies that the hard X-ray band is the optimal one to find powerful blazars beyond a redshift of ~4. First indications strongly suggest that powerful high-z blazar…
Active galactic nuclei are the most luminous persistent (non-transient, even if often variable) objects in the Universe. They are bright in the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Blazars are a special class where the jets point nearly to our line of sight. Because of this special geometry and the bulk relativistic motion of the plasma in the jet, their radiation is enhanced by relativistic beaming. The majority of extragalactic objects detected in gamma-rays are blazars. However, finding their counterparts in other wavebands could be challenging. Here we present the results of our 5-GHz European…
BL Lac objects are active nuclei, hosted in massive elliptical galaxies, the emission of which is dominated by a relativistic jet closely aligned with the line of sight. This implies the existence of a parent population of sources with a misaligned jet, that have been identified with low-power radiogalaxies. The spectrum of BL Lacs, dominated by non-thermal emission over the whole electromagnetic range, together with bright compact radio cores, high luminosities, rapid and large amplitude flux variability at all frequencies and strong polarization make these sources an optimal laboratory for h…
Giant radio galaxies (GRGs), with extended structures reaching hundreds of kpc, are among the most spectacular examples of ejection of relativistic plasma from super-massive black holes. In this work, third of a series, we present LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) images at 144 MHz, collected in the framework of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Data Release 2 (LoTSS DR2), for nine sources extracted from our sample of hard X-ray selected GRGs (HXGRG, i.e. from INTEGRAL/IBIS and Swift/BAT catalogues at >20 keV). Thanks to the resolution and sensitivity of LoTSS, we could probe the complex morphology of …
