775 research outputs found
What Types of Jets does Nature Make: A New Population of Radio Quasars
We use statistical results from a large sample of about 500 blazars, based on
two surveys, the Deep X-ray Radio Blazar Survey (DXRBS), nearly complete, and
the RASS-Green Bank survey (RGB), to provide new constraints on the spectral
energy distribution of blazars, particularly flat-spectrum radio quasars
(FSRQ). This reassessment is prompted by the discovery of a population of FSRQ
with spectral energy distribution similar to that of high-energy peaked BL
Lacs. The fraction of these sources is sample dependent, being ~ 10% in DXRBS
and ~ 30% in RGB (and reaching ~ 80% for the Einstein Medium Sensitivity
Survey). We show that these ``X-ray strong'' radio quasars, which had gone
undetected or unnoticed in previous surveys, indeed are the strong-lined
counterparts of high-energy peaked BL Lacs and have synchrotron peak
frequencies, nu_peak, much higher than ``classical'' FSRQ, typically in the UV
band for DXRBS. Some of these objects may be 100 GeV - TeV emitters, as are
several known BL Lacs with similar broadband spectra. Our large, deep, and
homogeneous DXRBS sample does not show anti-correlations between nu_peak and
radio, broad line region, or jet power, as expected in the so-called ``blazar
sequence'' scenario. However, the fact that FSRQ do not reach X-ray-to-radio
flux ratios and nu_peak values as extreme as BL Lacs and the elusiveness of
high nu_peak - high-power blazars suggest that there might be an intrinsic,
physical limit to the synchrotron peak frequency that can be reached by
strong-lined, powerful blazars. Our findings have important implications for
the study of jet formation and physics and its relationship to other properties
of active galactic nuclei.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journal (May 1 2003 issue). Postscript file also available at
http://www.stsci.edu/~padovani/unif_papers.htm
The Sedentary Survey of Extreme High Energy Peaked BL Lacs III. Results from Optical Spectroscopy
The multi-frequency Sedentary Survey is a flux limited, statistically
well-defined sample of highly X-ray dominated BL Lacertae objects (HBLs) which
includes 150 sources. In this paper, the third of the series, we report the
results of a dedicated optical spectroscopy campaign that, together with
results from other independent optical follow up programs, led to the
spectroscopic identification of all sources in the sample. We carried out a
systematic spectroscopic campaign for the observation of all unidentified
objects of the sample using the ESO 3.6m, the KPNO 4m, and the TNG optical
telescopes. We present new identifications and optical spectra for 76 sources,
50 of which are new BL Lac objects, 18 are sources previously referred as BL
Lacs but for which no redshift information was available, and 8 are broad
emission lines AGNs. We find that the multi-frequency selection technique used
to build the survey is highly efficient (about 90%) in selecting BL Lacs
objects. We present positional and spectroscopic information for all confirmed
BL Lac objects. Our data allowed us to determined 36 redshifts out of the 50
new BL Lacs and 5 new redshifts for the previously known objects. The redshift
distribution of the complete sample is presented and compared with that of
other BL Lacs samples. For 26 sources without recognizable absorption features,
we calculated lower limits to the redshift using a method based on simulated
optical spectra with different ratios between jet and galaxy emission. For a
subsample of 38 object with high-quality spectra, we find a correlation between
the optical spectral slope, the 1.4 GHz radio luminosity, and the Ca H&K break
value, indicating that for powerful/beamed sources the optical light is
dominated by the non-thermal emission from the jet.Comment: 23 pages, accepted by A&
Optical variability of the strong-lined and X-ray bright source 1WGA J0447.9-0322
We present the historic light curve of 1WGA J0447.9-0322, spanning the time
interval from 1962 to 1991, built using the Asiago archive plates. The source
shows small fluctuations of about 0.3 mag around B=16 until 1986 and a fast
dimming of its average level by about 0.5 mag after that date, again with small
short term variations. The variability pattern is within the values shown by
other QSOs with long term monitoring, notwithstanding its high X-ray/optical
ratio. We present also its overall SED using literature data and recent
UV-optical SWIFT observations.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, accepted by The Astronomical Journal. Table 2
available upon reques
The near-infrared radius-luminosity relationship for active galactic nuclei
Black hole masses for samples of active galactic nuclei (AGN) are currently
estimated from single-epoch optical spectra. In particular, the size of the
broad-line emitting region needed to compute the black hole mass is derived
from the optical or ultraviolet continuum luminosity. Here we consider the
relationship between the broad-line region size, R, and the near-infrared
(near-IR) AGN continuum luminosity, L, as the near-IR continuum suffers less
dust extinction than at shorter wavelengths and the prospects for separating
the AGN continuum from host-galaxy starlight are better in the near-IR than in
the optical. For a relationship of the form R propto L^alpha, we obtain for a
sample of 14 reverberation-mapped AGN a best-fit slope of alpha=0.5+/-0.1,
which is consistent with the slope of the relationship in the optical band and
with the value of 0.5 naively expected from photoionisation theory. Black hole
masses can then be estimated from the near-IR virial product, which is
calculated using the strong and unblended Paschen broad emission lines (Pa
alpha or Pa beta).Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted by MNRAS Letter
A Flare in the Jet of Pictor A
A Chandra X-ray imaging observation of the jet in Pictor A showed a feature
that appears to be a flare that faded between 2000 and 2002. The feature was
not detected in a follow-up observation in 2009. The jet itself is over 150 kpc
long and a kpc wide, so finding year-long variability is surprising. Assuming a
synchrotron origin of the observed high-energy photons and a minimum energy
condition for the outflow, the synchrotron loss time of the X-ray emitting
electrons is of order 1200 yr, which is much longer than the observed
variability timescale. This leads to the possibility that the variable X-ray
emission arises from a very small sub-volume of the jet, characterized by
magnetic field that is substantially larger than the average over the jet.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Ap. J. Letter
Flux density measurements of a complete sample of faint blazars
We performed observations with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope to
measure flux densities and polarised emission of sources selected from the
"Deep X-ray Radio Blazar Survey" (DXRBS) to better define their spectral index
behaviour in the radio band, with the aim to construct a homogeneous sample of
blazars. Sources were observed at four different frequencies with the
Effelsberg 100-m telescope. We complemented these measurements with flux
density data at 1.4GHz derived from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey.The spectral
indices of a sample of faint blazars were computed making use of almost
simultaneous measurements. Sixty-six percent of the sources can be classified
as "bona fide" blazars. Seven objects show a clearly inverted spectral index.
Seventeen sources previously classified as flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs)
are actually steep spectrum radio quasars (SSRQs). The flux densities obtained
with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope at 5GHz are compared with the flux
densities listed in the Green Bank GB6 survey and in the Parkes-MIT-NRAO PMN
catalogue. About 43% of the sources in our sample exhibit flux density
variations on temporal scales of 19 or 22 years. We confirm that 75 out of 103
sources of the DXRBS are indeed FSRQs. Twenty-seven sources show a spectral
index steeper than -0.5 and should be classified as SSRQs. Polarised emission
was detected for 36 sources at 4.85GHz. The median value of the percentage of
polarised emission is (5.8+-0.9$)%. Five sources show rotation measure (RM)
values >200 rad m^-2.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
The spectral energy distributions of active galactic nuclei
We present spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 41 active galactic nuclei, derived from multiwavelength photometry and archival spectroscopy. All of the SEDs span at least 0.09 to 30 μm, but in some instances wavelength coverage extends into the X-ray, far-infrared, and radio. For some active galactic nuclei (AGNs) we have fitted the measured far-infrared photometry with greybody models, while radio flux density measurements have been approximated by power laws or polynomials. We have been able to fill some of the gaps in the spectral coverage using interpolation or extrapolation of simple models. In addition to the 41 individual AGN SEDs, we have produced 72 Seyfert SEDs by mixing SEDs of the central regions of Seyferts with galaxy SEDs. Relative to the literature, our templates have broader wavelength coverage and/or higher spectral resolution. We have tested the utility of our SEDs by using them to generate photometric redshifts for 0 < z ≤ 6.12 AGNs in the Boötes field (selected with X-ray, IR, and optical criteria) and, relative to SEDs from the literature, they produce comparable or better photometric redshifts with reduced flux density residuals
Deep radio images of the HEGRA and Whipple TeV sources in the Cygnus OB2 region
Context. The modern generation of Cherenkov telescopes has revealed a new
population of gamma-ray sources in the Galaxy. Some of them have been
identified with previously known X-ray binary systems while other remain
without clear counterparts a lower energies. Our initial goal here was
reporting on extensive radio observations of the first extended and yet
unidentified source, namely TeV J2032+4130. This object was originally detected
by the HEGRA telescope in the direction of the Cygnus OB2 region and its nature
has been a matter of debate during the latest years.
Aims. We aim to pursue our radio exploration of the TeV J2032+4130 position
that we initiated in a previous paper but taking now into account the latest
results from new Whipple and MILAGRO TeV telescopes.
Methods. Our investigation is mostly based on interferometric radio
observations with the Giant Metre Wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) close to Pune
(India) and the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico (USA). We also conducted
near infrared observations with the 3.5 m telescope and the OMEGA2000 camera at
the Centro Astronomico Hispano Aleman (CAHA) in Almeria (Spain).
Results. We present deep radio maps centered on the TeV J2032+4130 position
at different wavelengths. In particular, our 49 and 20 cm maps cover a field of
view larger than half a degree that fully includes the Whipple position and the
peak of MILAGRO emission. Our most important result here is a catalogue of 153
radio sources detected at 49 cm within the GMRT antennae primary beam with a
full width half maximum (FWHM) of 43 arc-minute. Moreover, our
multi-configuration VLA images reveal the non-thermal extended emission
previously reported by us with improved angular resolution.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 1 online catalogue. Accepted for publication in
Astronomy & Astrophysic
The Near-Infrared Broad Emission Line Region of Active Galactic Nuclei -- I. The Observations
We present high quality (high signal-to-noise ratio and moderate spectral
resolution) near-infrared (near-IR) spectroscopic observations of 23 well-known
broad-emission line active galactic nuclei (AGN). Additionally, we obtained
simultaneous (within two months) optical spectroscopy of similar quality. The
near-IR broad emission line spectrum of AGN is dominated by permitted
transitions of hydrogen, helium, oxygen, and calcium, and by the rich spectrum
of singly-ionized iron. In this paper we present the spectra, line
identifications and measurements, and address briefly some of the important
issues regarding the physics of AGN broad emission line regions. In particular,
we investigate the excitation mechanism of neutral oxygen and confront for the
first time theoretical predictions of the near-IR iron emission spectrum with
observations.Comment: 45 pages, 17 figures, accepted by ApJ
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