The broad energy range spanned by ASTRO-H instruments, from ~0.3 to 600 keV, with its high spectral resolution calorimeter and sensitive hard X-ray imaging, offers unique opportunities to study black holes and their environments. The ability to measu
re polarization is particularly novel, with potential sources including blazars, Galactic pulsars and X-ray binaries. In this White Paper, we present an overview of the synergistic instrumental capabilities and the improvements over prior missions. We also show how ASTRO-H fits into the multi-wavelength landscape. We present in more detail examples and simulations of key science ASTRO-H can achieve in a typical 100 ksec observation when data from all four instruments are combined. Specifically, we consider observations of black-hole source (Cyg X-1 and GRS 1915+105), blazars (Mrk 421 and Mrk 501), a quasar (3C 273), radio galaxies (Centaurus A and 3C 120), and active galaxies with a strong starburst (Circinus and NGC 4945). We will also address possible new discoveries expected from ASTRO-H.
We report on our study of high-energy properties of two peculiar TeV emitters: the extreme blazar 1ES 0347-121 and the extreme blazar candidate HESS J1943+213 located near the Galactic Plane. Both objects are characterized by quiescent synchrotron em
ission with flat spectra extending up to the hard X-ray range, and both were reported to be missing GeV counterparts in the Fermi-LAT 2-year Source Catalog. We analyze a 4.5 year accumulation of the Fermi-LAT data, resulting in the detection of 1ES 0347-121 in the GeV band, as well as in improved upper limits for HESS J1943+213. We also present the analysis results of newly acquired Suzaku data for HESS J1943+213. The X-ray spectrum is well represented by a single power law extending up to 25 keV with photon index 2.00+/-0.02 and a moderate absorption in excess of the Galactic value, in agreement with previous X-ray observations. No short-term X-ray variability was found over the 80 ks duration of the Suzaku exposure. Under the blazar hypothesis, we modeled the spectral energy distributions of 1ES 0347-121 and HESS J1943+213, and derived constraints on the intergalactic magnetic field strength and source energetics. We conclude that although the classification of HESS J1943+213 has not yet been determined, the blazar hypothesis remains the most plausible option, since in particular the broad-band spectra of the two analyzed sources along with the source model parameters closely resemble each other, and the newly available WISE and UKIDSS data for HESS J1943+213 are consistent with the presence of an elliptical host at the distance of approximately ~600 Mpc.
In this paper we analyze the peculiar radio structure observed across the central region of the galaxy cluster Abell 585 (z=0.12). In the low-resolution radio maps, this structure appears uniform and diffuse on angular scales of ~3 arcmin, and is see
mingly related to the distant (z=2.5) radio quasar B3 0727+409 rather than to the cluster itself. However, after a careful investigation of the unpublished archival radio data with better angular resolution, we resolve the structure into two distinct arcmin-scale features, which resemble typical lobes of cluster radio galaxies with no obvious connection to the background quasar. We support this conclusion by examining the spectral and polarization properties of the features, demonstrating in addition that the analyzed structure can hardly be associated with any sort of a radio mini-halo or relics of the cluster. Yet at the same time we are not able to identify host galaxies of the radio lobes in the available optical and infrared surveys. We consider some speculative explanations for our findings, including gravitational wave recoil kicks of SMBHs responsible for the lobes formation in the process of merging massive ellipticals within the central parts of a rich cluster environment, but we do not reach any robust conclusions regarding the origin of the detected radio features.
Here we report on the detailed analysis of the gamma-ray light curve of a luminous blazar PKS1510-089 observed in the GeV range with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi satellite during the period 2011 September -- December. By investiga
ting the properties of the detected three major flares with the shortest possible time binning allowed by the photon statistics, we find a variety of temporal characteristics and variability patterns. This includes a clearly asymmetric profile (with a faster flux rise and a slower decay) of the flare resolved on sub-daily timescales, a superposition of many short uncorrelated flaring events forming the apparently coherent longer-duration outburst, and a huge single isolated outburst unresolved down to the timescale of three-hours. In the latter case we estimate the corresponding gamma-ray flux doubling timescale to be below one hour, which is extreme and never previously reported for any active galaxy in the GeV range. The other unique finding is that the total power released during the studied rapid and high-amplitude flares constitute the bulk of the power radiatively dissipated in the source, and a significant fraction of the total kinetic luminosity of the underlying relativistic outflow. Our analysis allows us to access directly the characteristic timescales involved in shaping the energy dissipation processes in the source, and to provide constraints on the location and the structure of the blazar emission zone in PKS1510-089.
Electrons can be accelerated to ultrarelativistic energies at strong (high-Mach number) collisionless shock waves that form when stellar debris rapidly expands after a supernova. Collisionless shock waves also form in the flow of particles from the S
un (the solar wind), and extensive spacecraft observations have established that electron acceleration at these shocks is effectively absent whenever the upstream magnetic field is roughly parallel to the shock surface normal (quasi-parallel conditions). However, it is unclear whether this magnetic dependence of electron acceleration also applies to the far stronger shocks around young supernova remnants, where local magnetic conditions are poorly understood. Here we present Cassini spacecraft observations of an unusually strong solar system shock wave (Saturns bow shock) where significant local electron acceleration has been confirmed under quasi-parallel magnetic conditions for the first time, contradicting the established magnetic dependence of electron acceleration at solar system shocks. Furthermore, the acceleration led to electrons at relativistic energies (~MeV), comparable to the highest energies ever attributed to shock-acceleration in the solar wind. These observations demonstrate that at high-Mach numbers, like those of young supernova remnant shocks, quasi-parallel shocks become considerably more effective electron accelerators.
Centaurus B is a nearby radio galaxy positioned in the Southern hemisphere close to the Galactic plane. Here we present a detailed analysis of about 43 months of accumulated Fermi-LAT data of the gamma-ray counterpart of the source initially reported
in the 2nd Fermi-LAT catalog, and of newly acquired Suzaku X-ray data. We confirm its detection at GeV photon energies, and analyze the extension and variability of the gamma-ray source in the LAT dataset, in which it appears as a steady gamma-ray emitter. The X-ray core of Centaurus B is detected as a bright source of a continuum radiation. We do not detect however any diffuse X-ray emission from the known radio lobes, with the provided upper limit only marginally consistent with the previously claimed ASCA flux. Two scenarios that connect the X-ray and gamma-ray properties are considered. In the first one, we assume that the diffuse non-thermal X-ray emission component is not significantly below the derived Suzaku upper limit. In this case, modeling the inverse-Compton emission shows that the observed gamma-ray flux of the source may in principle be produced within the lobes. This association would imply that efficient in-situ acceleration of the radiating electrons is occurring and that the lobes are dominated by the pressure from the relativistic particles. In the second scenario, with the diffuse X-ray emission well below the Suzaku upper limits, the lobes in the system are instead dominated by the magnetic pressure. In this case, the observed gamma-ray flux is not likely to be produced within the lobes, but instead within the nuclear parts of the jet. By means of synchrotron self-Compton modeling we show that this possibility could be consistent with the broad-band data collected for the unresolved core of Centaurus B, including the newly derived Suzaku spectrum.
The giant radio galaxy M 87, with its proximity (16 Mpc) and its very massive black hole ((3 - 6) times 10^9 M_solar), provides a unique laboratory to investigate very high energy (E>100 GeV; VHE) gamma-ray emission from active galactic nuclei and, t
hereby, probe particle acceleration to relativistic energies near supermassive black holes (SMBH) and in relativistic jets. M 87 has been established as a VHE gamma-ray emitter since 2005. The VHE gamma-ray emission displays strong variability on timescales as short as a day. In 2008, a rise in the 43 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio emission of the innermost region (core; extension of < 100 Rs ; Schwarzschild radii) was found to coincide with a flaring activity at VHE. This had been interpreted as a strong indication that the VHE emission is produced in the direct vicinity of the SMBH. In 2010 a flare at VHE was again detected triggering further multi-wavelength (MWL) observations with the VLBA, Chandra, and other instruments. At the same time, M 87 was also observed with the Fermi-LAT telescope at MeV/GeV energies, the European VLBI Network (EVN), and the Liverpool Telescope (LT). Here, preliminary results from the 2010 campaign will be reported.
In this paper we report on the two-year-long Fermi-LAT observation of the peculiar blazar 4C +21.35 (PKS 1222+216). This source was in a quiescent state from the start of science operations of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in 2008 August until
2009 September, and then became more active, with gradually increasing flux and some moderately-bright flares. In 2010 April and June, 4C +21.35 underwent a very strong GeV outburst composed of several major flares characterized by rise and decay timescales of the order of a day. During the outburst, the GeV spectra of 4C +21.35 displayed a broken power-law form with spectral breaks observed near 1-3 GeV photon energies. We demonstrate that, at least during the major flares, the jet in 4C +21.35 carried a total kinetic luminosity comparable to the total accretion power available to feed the outflow. We also discuss the origin of the break observed in the flaring spectra of 4C +21.35. We show that, in principle, a model involving annihilation of the GeV photons on the He II Lyman recombination continuum and line emission of broad line region clouds may account for such. However, we also discuss the additional constraint provided by the detection of 4C +21.35 at 0.07-0.4 TeV energies by the MAGIC telescope, which coincided with one of the GeV flares of the source. We argue that there are reasons to believe that the $lesssim$,TeV emission of 4C +21.35 (as well as the GeV emission of the source, if co-spatial), is not likely to be produced inside the broad line region zone of highest ionization ($sim 10^{17}$,cm from the nucleus), but instead originates further away from the active center, namely around the characteristic scale of the hot dusty torus surrounding the 4C +21.35 nucleus ($sim 10^{19}$,cm).
Here we discuss evolution and broad-band emission of compact (< kpc) lobes in young radio sources. We propose a simple dynamical description for these objects, consisting of a relativistic jet propagating into a uniform gaseous medium in the central
parts of an elliptical host. In the framework of the proposed model, we follow the evolution of ultrarelativistic electrons injected from a terminal hotspot of a jet to expanding lobes, taking into account their adiabatic energy losses as well as radiative cooling. This allows us to discuss the broad-band lobe emission of young radio sources. In particular, we argue that the observed spectral turnover in the radio synchrotron spectra of these objects cannot originate from the synchrotron self-absorption process but is most likely due to free-free absorption effects connected with neutral clouds of interstellar medium engulfed by the expanding lobes and photoionized by active centers. We also find a relatively strong and complex high-energy emission component produced by inverse-Compton up-scattering of various surrounding photon fields by the lobes electrons. We argue that such high energy radiation is strong enough to account for several observed properties of GHz-peaked-spectrum (GPS) radio galaxies at UV and X-ray frequencies. In addition, this emission is expected to extend up to GeV (or possibly even TeV) photon energies and can thus be probed by several modern gamma-ray instruments. In particular, we suggest that GPS radio galaxies should constitute a relatively numerous class of extragalactic sources detected by GLAST.
