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Register a new userMulti-wavelength study of flaring activity in BL Lac object S5 0716+714 during 2015 outburst
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Sunil Chandra
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We present a detailed investigation of the flaring activity observed from a BL Lac object, S5 0716+714 , during its brightest ever optical state in the second half of January 2015. Observed almost simultaneously in the optical, X-rays and {gamma}-rays, a significant change in the degree of optical polarization (PD) and a swing in the position angle (PA) of polarization were recorded. A detection in the TeV (VHE) was also reported by the MAGIC consortium during this flaring episode. Two prominent sub-flares, peaking about 5-days apart, were seen in almost all the energy bands. The multi-wavelength light-curves, spectral energy distribution (SED) and polarization are modeled using the time-dependent code developed by Zhang et al. (2014). This model assumes a straight jet threaded by large scale helical magnetic fields taking into account the light travel time effects, incorporating synchrotron flux and polarization in 3D geometry. The rapid variation in PD and rotation in PA are most likely due to re-connections happening in the emission region in the jet, as suggested by the change in the ratio of toroidal to poloidal components of magnetic field during quiescent and flaring states.
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The BL Lac object S5~0716+714, a highly variable blazar, underwent an impressive outburst in January 2015 (Phase A), followed by minor activity in February (Phase B). The MAGIC observations were triggered by the optical flux observed in Phase A, corresponding to the brightest ever reported state of the source in the R-band. The comprehensive dataset collected is investigated in order to shed light on the mechanism of the broadband emission. Multi-wavelength light curves have been studied together with the broadband Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs). The data set collected spans from radio, optical photometry and polarimetry, X-ray, high-energy (HE, 0.1 GeV < E < 100 GeV) with textit{Fermi}-LAT to the very-high-energy (VHE, E>100 GeV) with MAGIC. The flaring state of Phase A was detected in all the energy bands, providing for the first time a multi-wavelength sample of simultaneous data from the radio band to the VHE. In the constructed SED the textit{Swift}-XRT+textit{NuSTAR} data constrain the transition between the synchrotron and inverse Compton components very accurately, while the second peak is constrained from 0.1~GeV to 600~GeV by textit{Fermi}+MAGIC data. The broadband SED cannot be described with a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model as it severely underestimates the optical flux in order to reproduce the X-ray to $gamma$-ray data. Instead we use a two-zone model. The EVPA shows an unprecedented fast rotation. An estimation of the redshift of the source by combined HE and VHE data provides a value of $z = 0.31 pm 0.02_{stats} pm 0.05_{sys}$, confirming the literature value. The data show the VHE emission originating in the entrance and exit of a superluminal knot in and out a recollimation shock in the inner jet. A shock-shock interaction in the jet seems responsible for the observed flares and EVPA swing. This scenario is also consistent with the SED modelling.
BL Lac objects of the intermediate subclass (IBLs) are known to emit a substantial fraction of their power in the energy range 0.1--10 GeV. Detecting gamma-ray emission from such sources provides therefore a direct probe of the emission mechanisms and of the underlying powerhouse. The AGILE gamma-ray satellite detected the remarkable IBL S5 0716+714 (z simeq 0.3) during a high state in the period from 2007 September - October, marked by two very intense flares reaching peak fluxes of 200times10^{-8} ph / cm^2 s above 100 MeV, with simultaneous optical and X-ray observations. We present here a theoretical model for the two major flares and discuss the overall energetics of the source. We conclude that 0716+714 is among the brightest BL Lacs ever detected at gamma-ray energies. Because of its high power and lack of signs for ongoing accretion or surrounding gas, the source is an ideal candidate to test the maximal power extractable from a rotating supermassive black hole via the pure Blandford-Znajek (BZ) mechanism. We find that during the 2007 gamma-ray flares our source approached or just exceeded the upper limit set by BZ for a black hole of mass 10^9 M_sun
We report results from a 1 week multi-wavelength campaign to monitor the BL Lac object S5 0716+714 (on December 9-16, 2009). In the radio bands the source shows rapid (~ (0.5-1.5) day) intra-day variability with peak amplitudes of up to ~ 10 %. The variability at 2.8 cm leads by about 1 day the variability at 6 cm and 11 cm. This time lag and more rapid variations suggests an intrinsic contribution to the sources intraday variability at 2.8 cm, while at 6 cm and 11 cm interstellar scintillation (ISS) seems to predominate. Large and quasi-sinusoidal variations of ~ 0.8 mag were detected in the V, R and I-bands. The X-ray data (0.2-10 keV) do not reveal significant variability on a 4 day time scale, favoring reprocessed inverse-Compton over synchrotron radiation in this band. The characteristic variability time scales in radio and optical bands are similar. A quasi-periodic variation (QPO) of 0.9 - 1.1 days in the optical data may be present, but if so it is marginal and limited to 2.2 cycles. Cross-correlations between radio and optical are discussed. The lack of a strong radio-optical correlation indicates different physical causes of variability (ISS at long radio wavelengths, source intrinsic origin in the optical), and is consistent with a high jet opacity and a compact synchrotron component peaking at ~= 100 GHz in an ongoing very prominent flux density outburst. For the campaign period, we construct a quasi-simultaneous spectral energy distribution (SED), including gamma-ray data from the FERMI satellite. We obtain lower limits for the relativistic Doppler-boosting of delta >= 12-26, which for a BL,Lac type object, is remarkably high.
We analyzed the multi-band optical behaviour of the BL Lacertae object, S5 0716+714, during its outburst state from 2014 November - 2015 March. We took data on 23 nights at three observatories, one in India and two in Bulgaria, making quasi-simultaneous observations in B, V, R, and I bands. We measured multi-band optical fluxes, colour and spectral variations for this blazar on intraday and short timescales. The source was in a flaring state during the period analyzed and displayed intense variability in all wavelengths. R band magnitude of 11.6 was attained by the target on 18 Jan 2015, which is the brightest value ever recorded for S5 0716+714. The discrete correlation function method yielded good correlation between the bands with no measurable time lags, implying that radiation in these bands originate from the same region and by the same mechanism. We also used the structure function technique to look for characteristic timescales in the light curves. During the times of rapid variability, no evidence for the source to display spectral changes with magnitude was found on either of the timescales. The amplitude of variations tends to increase with increasing frequency with a maximum of $sim$ 22% seen during flaring states in B band. A mild trend of larger variability amplitude as the source brightens was also found. We found the duty cycle of our source during the analyzed period to be $sim$ 90%. We also investigated the optical spectral energy distribution of S5 0716+714 using B, V, R, and I data points for 21 nights. We briefly discuss physical mechanisms most likely responsible for its flux and spectral variations.
We present a high-frequency very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) kinematical study of the BL Lac object S5 0716+714 over the time period of September 2008 to October 2010. The aim of the study is to investigate the relation of the jet kinematics to the observed broadband flux variability. We find significant non-radial motions in the jet outflow of the source. In the radial direction, the highest measured apparent speed is sim37 c, which is exceptionally high, especially for a BL Lac object. Patterns in the jet flow reveal a roughly stationary feature sim0.15 mas downstream of the core. The long-term fits to the component trajectories reveal acceleration in the sub-mas region of the jet. The measured brightness temperature, T_{B}, follows a continuous trend of decline with distance, T_B propto r_{jet}^{-(2.36pm0.41)}, which suggests a gradient in Doppler factor along the jet axis. Our analysis suggest that a moving disturbance (or a shock wave) from the base of the jet produces the high-energy (optical to gamma-ray) variations upstream of the 7 mm core, and then later causes an outburst in the core. Repetitive optical/gamma-ray flares and the curved trajectories of the associated components suggest that the shock front propagates along a bent trajectory or helical path. Sharper gamma-ray flares could be related to the passage of moving disturbances through the stationary feature. Our analysis suggests that the gamma-ray and radio emission regions have different Doppler factors.
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