No Arabic abstract
The evolutionary stage of a powerful radio source originated by an AGN is related to its linear size. In this context, compact symmetric objects (CSOs), which are powerful and intrinsically small objects, should represent the young stage in the individual radio source life. However, the fraction of young radio sources in flux density-limited samples is much higher than what expected from the number counts of large radio sources.This indicates that a significant fraction of young radio sources does not develop to the classical Fanaroff-Riley radio galaxies,suggesting an intermittent jet activity. As the radio jets are expanding within the dense and inhomogeneous interstellar medium,the ambient may play a role in the jet growth, for example slowing down or even disrupting its expansion when a jet-cloud interaction takes place. Moreover, this environment may provide the thermal seed photons that scattered by the lobes electrons may be responsible for high energy emission, detectable by Fermi-LAT.
The radio source 1146+596 is hosted by an elliptical/S0 galaxy NGC,3894, with a low-luminosity active nucleus. The radio structure is compact, suggesting a very young age of the jets in the system. Recently, the source has been confirmed as a high-energy (HE, $>0.1$,GeV) $gamma$-ray emitter, in the most recent accumulation of the {it Fermi} Large Area Telescope (LAT) data. Here we report on the analysis of the archival {it Chandra} X-ray Observatory data for the central part of the galaxy, consisting of a single 40,ksec-long exposure. We have found that the core spectrum is best fitted by a combination of an ionized thermal plasma with the temperature of $simeq 0.8$,keV, and a moderately absorbed power-law component (photon index $Gamma = 1.4pm 0.4$, hydrogen column density $N_{rm H}/10^{22}$,cm$^{-2}$,$= 2.4pm 0.7$). We have also detected the iron K$alpha$ line at $6.5pm 0.1$,keV, with a large equivalent width of EW,$= 1.0_{-0.5}^{+0.9}$,keV. Based on the simulations of the {it Chandra}s Point Spread Function (PSF), we have concluded that, while the soft thermal component is extended on the scale of the galaxy host, the hard X-ray emission within the narrow photon energy range 6.0--7.0,keV originates within the unresolved core (effectively the central kpc radius). The line is therefore indicative of the X-ray reflection from a cold neutral gas in the central regions of NGC,3894. We discuss the implications of our findings in the context of the X-ray Baldwin effect. NGC,3894 is the first young radio galaxy detected in HE $gamma$-rays with the iron K$alpha$ line.
Blazars are a sub-category of radio-loud active galactic nuclei with relativistic jets pointing towards to the observer. They are well-known for their non-thermal variable emission, which practically extends over the whole electromagnetic spectrum. Despite the plethora of multi-wavelength observations, the issue about the origin of the $gamma$-ray and radio emission in blazar jets remains unsettled. Here, we construct a parametric leptonic model for studying the connection between the $gamma$-ray and radio emission in both steady-state and flaring states of blazars. Assuming that relativistic electrons are injected continuously at a fixed distance from the black hole, we numerically study the evolution of their population as it propagates to larger distances while losing energy due to expansion and radiative cooling. In this framework, $gamma$-ray photons are naturally produced at small distances (e.g. $10^{-3}$ pc) when the electrons are still very energetic, whereas the radio emission is produced at larger distances (e.g. $1$ pc), after the electrons have cooled and the emitting region has become optically thin to synchrotron self-absorption due to expansion. We present preliminary results of our numerical investigation for the steady-state jet emission and the predicted time lags between $gamma$-rays and radio during flares.
Following our study of the radio and high-energy properties of $gamma$-ray-emitting radio galaxies, here we investigate the kinematic and spectral properties of the parsec-scale jets of radio galaxies that have not yet been detected by Fermi-LAT. We take advantage of the regular VLBI observations provided by the TANAMI monitoring program, and explore the kinematic properties of six $gamma$-ray-faint radio galaxies. We include publicly available VLBI kinematics of $gamma$-ray-quiet radio galaxies monitored by the MOJAVE program and perform a Fermi-LAT analysis, deriving upper limits. We combine these results with those from our previous paper to construct the largest sample of radio galaxies with combined VLBI and $gamma$-ray measurements to date. We find superluminal motion up to $beta_mathrm{app}=3.6$ in the jet of PKS 2153$-$69. We find a clear trend of higher apparent speed as a function of distance from the jet core on scales of $sim10^5,R_s$, corresponding to the end of the collimation and acceleration zone in nearby radio galaxies. We find evidence of subluminal apparent motion in the jets of PKS 1258$-$321 and IC 4296, and no measurable motion for PKS 1549$-$79, PKS 1733$-$565 and PKS 2027$-$308. We compare the VLBI properties of $gamma$-ray-detected and undetected radio galaxies, and find significantly different distributions of median core flux density, and, possibly, of median core brightness temperature. We find a significant correlation between median core flux density and $gamma$-ray flux, but no correlation with typical Doppler boosting indicators such as median core brightness temperature and core dominance. Our study suggests that high-energy emission from radio galaxies is related to parsec-scale radio emission from the inner jet, but is not driven by Doppler boosting effects, in contrast to the situation in their blazar counterparts.
The advent of Fermi is changing our understanding on the radio and gamma-ray emission in Active Galactic Nuclei. In fact, contrary to previous campaigns, Fermi mission reveals that BL Lac objects are the most abundant emitters in gamma-ray band. However, since they are relatively weak sources, most of their parsec scale structure as their multifrequency properties are poorly understood and/or not systematically investigated. Our main goal is to analyse, using a multiwavelength approach, the nuclear properties of an homogeneous sample of 42 faint BL Lacs, selected, for the first time in literature, with no constraint on their radio and gamma-ray flux densities/emission. We began asking and obtaining new VLBA observations at 8 and 15 GHz for the whole sample. We derived fundamental parameters as radio flux densities, spectral index information, and parsec scale structure. Moreover, we investigated their gamma-ray emission properties using the 2LAT Fermi results. Here, we report our preliminary results on the radio and gamma-ray properties of this sample of faint BL Lacs. In the next future, we will complete the multiwavelength analysis.
Ap Lib is one of the rare Low Synchrotron Peaked blazars detected so far at TeV energies. This type of source is not properly modelled by standard one-zone leptonic Synchrotron-self-Compton (SSC) emission scenarios. The aim of this paper is to study the relevance of additional components which should naturally occur in a SSC scenario for a better understanding of the emission mechanisms, especially at very high energies (VHE). Methods. We use simultaneous data from a multi-wavelength campaign of Planck, Swift-UVOT and Swift-XRT telescopes carried out in February 2010, as well as quasi-simultaneous data of WISE, Fermi and H.E.S.S. taken in 2010. The multi-lambda emission of Ap Lib is modelled by a blob-in-jet SSC scenario including the contribution of the base of the VLBI extended jet, the radiative blob-jet interaction, the accretion disk and its associated external photon field. We show that signatures of a strong parsec-scale jet and of an accretion disk emission are present in the SED. We can link the observationnal VLBI jet features from MOJAVE to parameters expected for a VHE emitting blob accelerated near the jet base. The VHE emission appears to be dominated by the inverse-Compton effect of the blob relativistic electrons interacting with the jet synchrotron radiation. In such scenario Ap Lib appears as an intermediate source between BL Lac objects and Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars. Ap Lib could be a bright representative of a specific class of blazars, in which the parsec-scale jet luminosity is no more negligible compared to the blob and contributes to the high energy emission via inverse Compton processes.