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Long GRBs are related to the death of massive stars and reveal themselves through synchrotron emission from highly relativistic jets. The ‘Christmas Burst’ GRB 101225A was an exceptionally long GRB with a thermal afterglow, very different from the standard GRB. Initially, no spectroscopic redshift could be obtained and SED modeling yielded z=0.33. A plausible model was a He-NS star merger where the He-star had ejected part of its envelope in the common envelope phase during inspiral. The interaction between the jet and the previously ejected shell can explains the thermal emission. We obtained deep spectroscopy of the host galaxy which leads to a correction of the redshift to z=0.847. Despite the higher redshift, our model is still valid and theoretically better justified than the alternative suggestion of a blue supergiant progenitor proposed by Levan et al. (2014) for several “ultra-long” GRBs.
In this talk we present a novel way to use optical polarimetric observations to provide independent constraints and guide to the modelling of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of blazars. The approach is particularly useful to judge when a two-zone model description of the SED of the source is required and is able to provide with extra information that helps breaking some of the degeneracies on the fit parameters of the two SSC model components. The method will be presented in some detail and will be subsequently applied to the 2008 multi-wavelength campaign of PKS 2155-304 as an illustration of its potential.
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory is a wide-field gamma-ray detector sensitive to primary energies between 100 GeV and 100 TeV. The array is being built at an altitude of 4100 m a.s.l. on the Sierra Negra volcano near Puebla, Mexico. Data taking has already started while construction continues, with the completion projected for early 2015. The design is optimized to detect extended air showers induced by gamma rays that pass through the array and to reconstruct the directions and energies of the primary photons. With a duty cycle close to 100% and a daily coverage of ~8 sr of the sky, HAWC will perform a survey of TeV emissions from many different sources. The northern active galactic nuclei will be monitored for up to 6 hours each day, providing unprecedented light curve coverage at energies comparable to those of imaging air Cherenkov telescopes. HAWC has been in scientific operation with more than 100 detector modules since August 2013. Here we present a preliminary look at the first results and discuss the efforts to integrate HAWC in multi-wavelength studies of extragalactic jets.
We present a multi-wavelength study of the radio galaxy PKS J0334-3900, which resides at the centre of Abell 3135. Using Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) observations at 1.4, 2.5, 4.6 & 8.6 GHz, we performed a detailed analysis of PKS J0334-3900. The morphology and spectral indices give physical parameters that constrain the dynamical history of the galaxy, which we use to produce a simulation of PKS J0334-3900. This simulation shows that the morphology can be generated by a wind in the intracluster medium (ICM), orbital motion caused by a companion galaxy, and precession of the black hole (BH).
Additionally, ATCA polarisation data was used to obtain rotation measure values along the line of sight to PKS J0334-3900. Using our simulation we are able to infer the distance between the jets along the line of sight to be 154 ± 16 kpc, which when combined with the difference in rotation measure between the jets provides a novel new way to estimate the average magnetic field within the cluster. A lower limit to the cluster magnetic field was calculated to be 0.09±0.03 μG. We have shown that different techniques can be applied to observations of jets in galaxies to infer information on cluster environments.
We have used the broadband backend available at the ATCA to study the fast interstellar scintillation (ISS) of quasar PKS 1257–326, resolving the core shift as a function of frequency on scales less than 10 microarcseconds. In this short paper we discuss the jet direction implied from the microarcsecond-scale core shift in PKS 1257–326.
We present a multifrequency analysis of the variability in the flat-spectrum radio quasar 3C 279 from 2008 to 2014. Our multiwavelength dataset includes gamma-ray data from Fermi/LAT (Abdo et al. 2009), observations in 1mm from SMA (Gurwell et al. 2007), Near Infrared from OAGH (Carramiñana & Carrasco 2009) and SMARTS (Bonning et al. 2012); optical V band from the Steward Observatory (Smith et al. 2009) and SMARTS; optical spectra from OAGH (Patiño-Álvarez et al. 2013) and the Steward Observatory; and polarization spectra from the Steward Observatory. The light curves are shown in Fig. 1. Six out of seven optical activity periods identified within our dataset show clear counterparts in mm, NIR and gamma-rays, however, the late 2011 - early 2012 optical flare does not have a counterpart in the GeV regime. In this contribution, we discuss the flaring evolution of 3C 279 and speculate about the production of the anomalous activity period.
Results from Chandra-HST-VLA observations of 13 hybrid sources are presented. Data from ten sources in the literature are analysed along with new data from three hybrid blazars belonging to the MOJAVE sample. Studies of such hybrid sources displaying both FRI and FRII jet characteristics could provide the key to resolving the long-standing Fanaroff-Riley dichotomy issue. A majority of the 13 hybrid sources show FRII-like total radio powers, i.e., they are “hybrid” in radio morphology but not in total radio power. VLBI observations of ten of the 13 sources show that the X-ray jet is on the same side as the one-sided VLBI jet. X-rays are therefore emitted from relativistically-boosted approaching jets. This is consistent with the X-ray emission being IC/CMB in origin in the majority of sources. It is not completely clear from our study that asymmetries in the surrounding medium can create hybrid sources. Hybrid radio morphologies could also be indicative of intrinsically asymmetric jets.
Massive gas outflows are considered a key component in the process of galaxy formation and evolution. Because of this, they are the topic of many studies aimed at learning more about their occurrence, location and physical conditions as well as the mechanism(s) at their origin. This contribution presents recent results on two of the best examples of jet-driven outflows traced by cold and molecular gas. Thanks to high-spatial resolution observations, we have been able to locate the region where the outflow occurs. This appears to be coincident with bright radio features and regions where the interaction between radio plasma jet and ISM is known to occur, thus strongly supporting the idea of jet-driven outflows. We have also imaged the distribution of the outflowing gas. The results clearly show the effect that expanding radio jets and lobes have on the ISM. This appears to be in good agreement with what predicted from numerical simulations. Furthermore, the results show that cold gas is associated with these powerful phenomena and can be formed - likely via efficient cooling - even after a strong interaction and fast shocks. The discovery of similar fast outflows of cold gas in weak radio sources is further increasing the relevance that the effect of the radio plasma can have on the surrounding medium and on the host galaxy.
In this contribution an overview of the latest results on the study of BL Lac objects with the MAGIC telescopes at the very high energy (VHE, E>100 GeV) gamma-rays is presented. Three new VHE sources were detected during 2014, two BL Lac objects and the gravitational lensed blazar S3 0218+357. MAGIC detected very fast intra-night variability from IC 310. This detection points to smaller emitting regions than the event horizon, this is hard to be explained in the framework of the current theoretical models. The long term multi wavelength (MWL) study of the BL Lac PKS 1424+240 shows correlation between the radio and optical emission, pointing to a common origin. The MWL SED is not well fitted by a one-zone synchrotron-self Compton (SSC) model, but a two-zone SSC model can explain both, the MWL light curve and the SED. Spectral curvature has been found in the observed VHE spectrum from PG 1553+113. This is the first time that spectral curvature compatible with the EBL absorption is found in an individual object.
Variability is one of the extreme observational properties of BL Lacertae objects. AO 0235+164 is a well studied BL Lac through the whole electro-magnetic wavebands, it is violently variable in the optical bands. In the present work, we show its optical R band photometric observations carried out during the period of Nov. 2006 to Dec. 2012 using the Ap6E CCD camera attached to the primary focus of the 70 cm meniscus telescope at Abastumani Observatory, Georgia. It shows a large variation of ΔR = 4.88 mag (14.20 - 19.08 mag) during our monitoring period. When periodicity analysis methods are adopted to its R observations from our Abastumani monitoring programme and those in the literature, the signs of some periods, P1 = 8.26 yr, P2 = 0.55 yr, P3 = 0.85 yr, P4 = 1.99 yr are found.
Chandra revealed cavities in the hot atmospheres of many nearby clusters. These cavities are tracers of a strong coupling between the relativistic plasma in radio sources and the cooling, thermal gas in clusters. They demonstrate clearly that the AGN affects the cooling gas that leads to star formation and galaxy growth and allow a direct measurement of the bulk of the AGN's power. Together with radio data, the cavities allow us to derive scaling relations between mechanical (cavity) and radio power that can be used to estimate the AGN feedback power when direct measurement of the cavities is not possible. We review the importance of such relations for extending current studies of feedback with new and upcoming radio telescopes such as LOFAR and SKA.
Short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are an extremely elusive family of cosmic explosions. They are thought to be related to the violent merger of compact objects (such as a neutron stars or black holes). Their optical counterparts were not discovered until 2005, and since then, there had been no successful spectroscopic observations. Here we present the first spectra of a short GRB, which we use to study the environment and derive implications on the progenitors of these cosmic explosions. This poster is based on the work by de Ugarte Postigo et al. (2014).
AGN jets are detected via their radio and/or gamma-ray emissions while the accretion disks are detected by their optical and UV radiation. Observations of the radio and optical luminosities show a strong correlation between the two luminosities. However, part of this correlation is due to the redshift or distances of the sources that enter in calculating the luminosities from the observed fluxes and part of it could be due to the differences in the cosmological evolution of luminosities. Thus, the determination of the intrinsic correlations between the luminosities is not straightforward. It is affected by the observational selection effects and other factors that truncate the data, sometimes in a complex manner [Antonucci (2011) and Pavildou et al. (2010)]. In this paper we describe methods that allow us to determine the evolution of the radio and optical luminosities, and determine the true intrinsic correlation between the two luminosities. We find a much weaker correlation than observed and sub-linear relations between the luminosities. This has a significant implication for the jet and accretion disk physics.
We investigate the systematics of the properties of highly relativistic jets at multiple frequencies, including Fermi, and MOJAVE data. We test the hypothesis that the blazar divide constitutes a dichotomy. We also explore possible measures of the Doppler factor for these highly Doppler-beamed active galactic nuclei.
We use 4 broadband SEDs spanning 7 years to study the spectral shape and long term variability of RE J2248-511: an unusual AGN discovered in the extreme-UV by the ROSAT Wide Field Camera. This implies a large ultrasoft X-ray flux, which is typical of narrow-line Seyfert 1s, yet its optical lines are clearly broader than the NLS1 definition allows. Here we show that the continuum SED for the brightest epoch dataset is consistent with the mean SED of a standard quasar, and matches well to that from an XMM–SDSS sample of AGN with M/M⊙ ~ 108 and L/LEdd ~ 0.2. All the correlated optical and soft X-ray variability can be due entirely to a major absorption event. The only remarkable aspect of this AGN is that there is no measurable intrinsic X-ray absorption column in the brightest epoch dataset. The observed FUV flux is determined by the combination of this and the fact that the source lies within a local absorption hole. RE J2248-511, which once defied classification, demonstrates that characterisation of such objects requires multi-epoch, multi-wavelength campaigns.
We present a multiwavelength study of the core and relativistic jet of the radio loud (RL) quasar RGB J1512+020A (z=0.20). We report the discovery of a bright, 13” extended X-ray jet with a short Chandra observation. We discuss the origin of the jet X-ray emission and its properties in comparison with sample of X-ray quasar jets. The broadband core spectrum is contributed by the emission of the central quasar, by a blazar component, responsible for the γ-ray emission detected by Fermi, and by the host galaxy. We model the non-thermal blazar spectral energy distribution (SED) and constrain the total jet power. The jet power inferred from the blazar SED modeling is in agreement with the values obtained from the total radio power, pointing to a jet that efficiently carries its power up to kiloparsec scales. The quasar emission appears intrinsically weak in the optical-UV band. The disk luminosity estimated from the broad emission lines is lower than the jet power, in agreement with recent results from observations and theory.
The majority of Fermi-LAT detected (2FGL) sources are AGN, mostly blazars. However, the second largest category in the 2FGL are unassociated sources (~30% or 575 sources), whose multi-wavelength counterpart is either inconclusive or absent. Follow-up observations and archival data at X-ray, optical, and radio frequencies suggest that many unassociated 2FGL sources are strong candidates to be AGN. Typical observed characteristics of 2FGL detected AGN include variability at all frequencies and a spectral energy distribution (SED) with two “bumps”; a low-frequency synchrotron peak in the radio to optical/X-ray region and a high-frequency peak, possibly due to synchrotron self-Compton or Inverse Compton processes, that extends up to TeV energies. We present optical follow-up observations of a sample of Fermi unassociated sources with one or more potential X-ray counterparts detected within the LAT error circle.
For the last two decades, significant and dramatic progress has been made in understanding astrophysical jet sources, particularly in the X-ray and gamma-ray energy bands. For example, the Chandra X-ray observatory reveals a number of AGN jets extending from kpc to Mpc scales. More recently, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescopes launched in 2008 started monitoring the gamma-ray sky with excellent sensitivity of about ten times greater than that of EGRET onboard CGRO, and has detected more than 2,000 sources (mostly AGNs) as of 2014. Moreover, Fermi-LAT has discovered gamma-ray emissions not only from blazars but from a dozen radio galaxies not previously known to emit gamma-rays. Closer to home, the Fermi-bubbles were discovered to extend 50 degrees above and below the Galactic center. These large scale diffuse gamma-ray structures are similar in structure to AGN lobes such as those seen in Cen A and provide evidence for past activity in our Galactic center. In this review, I will first summarize recent highlights of large scale jets in radio galaxies, specifically resolved by the Chandra X-ray observatory. Next I will move on to the gamma-ray sky to present some highlights from Fermi-LAT observations of “misaligned” blazars, namely radio galaxies. I will discuss a unification scheme connecting blazars and misaligned radio galaxies. In the last part, I will also briefly comment on recent multiband observations of the Fermi-bubble and possible impacts on the AGN jet physics in the near future.