No Arabic abstract
We report on an analysis of X- and $gamma$-ray observations of PKS 1830-211, based on the long-term campaigns carried out by emph{INTEGRAL} and COMPTEL. The emph{INTEGRAL} data currently available present a $33sigma$ significance detection in the 20-100 keV band, while the COMPTEL 6-years data provide a $5.2sigma$ significance detection in the 1-3 MeV energy band. At hard X-rays, emph{INTEGRAL} and supplementary emph{SWIFT} observations show flux variability on timescales of months. At $gamma$-rays, the source shows persistent emission over years. The hard X-ray spectrum is well represented by a power-law model, with $Gamma sim 1.3$ in the 20-250 keV band. This photon index is well consistent with the previous report of $Gamma sim 1.3$ obtained at $E > 3.5$ keV from the best fit of emph{XMM-Newton} data with a broken power law model. The joint emph{XMM-Newton}/emph{INTEGRAL} spectrum presented here is then fit with a broken power-law model and the parameters are refined compared to the previous. The results show the photon index changes from $sim 1.0$ to $sim 1.3$ at a break energy $sim 4$ keV. At MeV energies, the spectrum softens to $Gamma sim 2.2$. These results, together with the EGRET measurement at $E ge 100$ MeV, constitute a broad-band spectrum containing the peak of the power output at MeV energies, similar to most high-luminosity $gamma$-ray blazars. The measured spectral characterstics are then discussed in the framework of the gravitational lens effects.
Gravitational lensing is a potentially powerful tool for elucidating the origin of gamma-ray emission from distant sources. Cosmic lenses magnify the emission from distance sources and produce time delays between mirage images. Gravitationally-induced time delays depend on the position of the emitting regions in the source plane. The Fermi/LAT satellite continuously monitors the entire sky and detects gamma-ray flares, including those from gravitationally-lensed blazars. Therefore, temporal resolution at gamma-ray energies can be used to measure these time delays, which, in turn, can be used to resolve the origin of the gamma-ray flares spatially. We provide a guide to the application and Monte Carlo simulation of three techniques for analyzing these unresolved light curves: the Autocorrelation Function, the Double Power Spectrum, and the Maximum Peak Method. We apply these methods to derive time delays from the gamma-ray light curve of the gravitationally-lensed blazar PKS 1830-211. The result of temporal analysis combined with the properties of the lens from radio observations yield an improvement in spatial resolution at gamma-ray energies by a factor of 10000. We analyze four active periods. For two of these periods, the emission is consistent with origination from the core and for the other two, the data suggest that the emission region is displaced from the core by more that ~1.5 kpc. For the core emission, the gamma-ray time delays, $23pm0.5$ days and $19.7pm1.2$ days, are consistent with the radio time delay $26^{+4}_{-5}$ days.
Measurements of the properties of gravitational lenses have the power to tell us what sort of universe we live in. The brightest known radio Einstein ring/gravitational lens PKS 1830-211 (Jauncey et al., 1991), whilst obscured by our Galaxy at optical wavelengths, has recently been shown to contain absorption at the millimetre waveband at a redshift of 0.89 (Wiklind and Combes, 1996a). We report the detection of a new absorption feature, most likely due to neutral hydrogen in a second redshift system at z = 0.19. Follow-up VLBI observations have spatially resolved the absorption and reveal it to cover the NE compact component and part of the lower surface brightness ring. This new information, together with existing evidence of the unusual VLBI radio structure and difficulties in modeling the lensing system, points to the existence of a second lensing galaxy along our line of sight and implies that PKS 1830-211 may be a compound gravitational lens.
PKS 1830-211 is a known macrolensed quasar located at a redshift of z=2.5. Its high-energy gamma-ray emission has been detected with the Fermi-LAT instrument and evidence for lensing was obtained by several authors from its high-energy data. Observations of PKS 1830-211 were taken with the H.E.S.S. array of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes in August 2014, following a flare alert by the Fermi- LAT collaboration. The H.E.S.S observations were aimed at detecting a gamma-ray flare delayed by 20-27 days from the alert flare, as expected from observations at other wavelengths. More than twelve hours of good quality data were taken with an analysis threshold of $sim67$ GeV. The significance of a potential signal is computed as a function of the date as well as the average significance over the whole period. Data are compared to simultaneous observations by Fermi-LAT. No photon excess or significant signal is detected. An upper limit on PKS 1830-211 flux above 67 GeV is computed and compared to the extrapolation of the Fermi-LAT flare spectrum.
We report the first science observations and results obtained with the extended SMA (eSMA), which is composed of the SMA (Submillimeter Array), JCMT (James Clerk Maxwell Telescope) and CSO (Caltech Submillimeter Observatory). Redshifted absorptions at z=0.886 of CI (^3P_1 - ^3P_0) were observed with the eSMA with an angular resolution of 0.55x0.22 at 1.1 mm toward the southwestern image of the remarkable lensed quasar PKS 1830-211, but not toward the northeastern component at a separation of ~1. Additionally, SMA observations of CO, 13CO and C18O (all J=4-3) were obtained toward this object: CO was also detected toward the SW component, but none of the isotopologues were. This is the first time [CI] is detected in this object, allowing the first direct determination of relative abundances of neutral atomic carbon to CO in the molecular clouds of a spiral galaxy at z>0.1. The [CI] and CO profiles can be decomposed into two and three velocity components respectively. We derive C/CO column density ratios ranging from <0.5 (representative of dense cores) to ~2.5 (close to translucent clouds values). This could indicate that we are seeing environments with different physical conditions or that we are witnessing chemical evolution of regions where C has not completely been converted into CO.
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, the source was observed in NIR-Optical energy bands at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and in X-rays by Swift/XRT and INTEGRAL/IBIS. The main result of these multifrequency observations is that the large variability observed in gamma-rays has not a significant counterpart at lower frequencies: no variation greater than a factor of ~ 1.5 resulted in NIR and X-ray energy bands. PKS 1830-211 is then a good gamma-ray only flaring blazar showing substantial variability only above 10-100 MeV. We discuss the theoretical implications of our findings.