No Arabic abstract
In this paper, we report results of our near-infrared (NIR) photometric variability studies of the BL Lacertae object S5 0716+714. NIR photometric observations spread over 7 nights during our observing run April 2-9, 2007 at 1.8 meter telescope equipped with KASINICS (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute Near Infrared Camera System) and J, H, and Ks filters at Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO), South Korea. We searched for intra-day variability, short term variability and color variability in the BL Lac object. We have not detected any genuine intra-day variability in any of J, H, and Ks passbands in our observing run. Significant short term variability ~ 32.6%, 20.5% and 18.2% have been detected in J, H, Ks passbands, respectively, and ~ 11.9% in (J-H) color.
We present results of a periodicity search of 20 intra-day variable optical light curves of the blazar S5 0716+714, selected from a database of 102 light curves spanning over three years. We use a wavelet analysis technique along with a randomization test and find strong candidates for nearly periodic variations in eight light curves, with probabilities ranging from 95% to >99%. This is the first good evidence for periodic, or more-precisely, quasi-periodic, components in the optical intra-day variable light curves of any blazar. Such periodic flux changes support the idea that some active galactic nuclei variability, even in blazars, is based on accretion disk fluctuations or oscillations. These intra-day variability time scales are used to estimate that the central black hole of the blazar S5 0716+714 has a mass > 2.5 times 10^6$ M$_{odot}$. As we did not find any correlations between the flux levels and intra-day variability time scales, it appears that more than one emission mechanism is at work in this blazar.
We aim to search for evidence of annual modulation in the time scales of the BL Lac object S5 0716+714. The intra-day variability (IDV) observations were carried out monthly from 2005 to 2009, with the Urumqi 25m radio telescope at 4.8 GHz. The source has shown prominent IDV as well as long-term flux variations. The IDV time scale does show evidence in favor of an annual modulation, suggesting that the IDV of 0716+714 is dominated by interstellar scintillation. The source underwent a strong outburst phase between mid-2008 and mid-2009; a second intense flare was observed in late 2009, but no correlation between the total flux density and the IDV time scale is found, implying that the flaring state of the source does not have serious implications for the general characteristics of its intra-day variability. However, we find that the inner-jet position angle is changing throughout the years, which could result in an annual modulation noise in the anisotropic ISS model fit. There is also an indication that the lowest IDV amplitudes (rms flux density) correspond to the slowest time scales of IDV, which would be consistent with an ISS origin of the IDV of 0716+714.
The emission from blazars is known to be variable at all wavelengths. The flux variability is often accompanied by spectral changes. Spectral energy distribution (SED) changes must be associated with changes in the spectra of emitting electrons and/or the physical parameters of the jet. Meaningful modeling of blazar broadband spectra is required to understand the extreme conditions within the emission region. Not only is the broadband SED crucial, but also information about its variability is needed to understand how the highest states of emission occur and how they differ from the low states. This may help in discriminating between models. Here we present the results of our SED modeling of the blazar S5 0716+714 during various phases of its activity. The SEDs are classified into different bins depending on the optical brightness state of the source.
We present the results of a series of radio, optical, X-ray and gamma-ray observations of the BL Lac object S50716+714 carried out between April 2007 and January 2011. The multi-frequency observations were obtained using several ground and space based facilities. The intense optical monitoring of the source reveals faster repetitive variations superimposed on a long-term variability trend at a time scale of ~350 days. Episodes of fast variability recur on time scales of ~ 60-70 days. The intense and simultaneous activity at optical and gamma-ray frequencies favors the SSC mechanism for the production of the high-energy emission. Two major low-peaking radio flares were observed during this high optical/gamma-ray activity period. The radio flares are characterized by a rising and a decaying stage and are in agreement with the formation of a shock and its evolution. We found that the evolution of the radio flares requires a geometrical variation in addition to intrinsic variations of the source. Different estimates yield a robust and self-consistent lower limits of delta > 20 and equipartition magnetic field B_eq > 0.36 G. Causality arguments constrain the size of emission region theta < 0.004 mas. We found a significant correlation between flux variations at radio frequencies with those at optical and gamma-rays. The optical/GeV flux variations lead the radio variability by ~65 days. The longer time delays between low-peaking radio outbursts and optical flares imply that optical flares are the precursors of radio ones. An orphan X-ray flare challenges the simple, one-zone emission models, rendering them too simple. Here we also describe the spectral energy distribution modeling of the source from simultaneous data taken through different activity periods.
The typical blazar S5 0716$+$714 is very interesting due to its rapid and large amplitude variability and high duty cycle of micro-variability in optical band. We analyze the observations in I, R and V bands obtained with the $1.0m$ telescope at Weihai observatory of Shandong University from 2011 to 2018. The model of synchrotron radiation from turbulent cells in a jet has been proposed as a mechanism for explaining micro-variability seen in blazar light curves. Parameters such as the sizes of turbulent cells, the enhanced particle densities, and the location of the turbulent cells in the jet can be studied using this model. The model predicts a time lag between variations as observed in different frequency bands. Automatic model fitting method for micro-variability is developed, and the fitting results of our multi-frequency micro-variability observations support the model. The results show that both the amplitude and duration of flares decomposed from the micro-variability light curves confirm to the log-normal distribution. The turbulent cell size is within the range of about 5 to 55 AU, and the time lags of the micro-variability flares between the I-R and R-V bands should be several minutes. The time lags obtained from the turbulence model are consistent with the fitting statistical results, and the time lags of flares are correlated with the time lags of the whole light curve.