ترغب بنشر مسار تعليمي؟ اضغط هنا

High cadence, linear and circular polarization monitoring of OJ 287 - Helical magnetic field in a bent jet

65   0   0.0 ( 0 )
 نشر من قبل Ioannis Myserlis Dr.
 تاريخ النشر 2018
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English




اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث

We present a multi-frequency, dense radio monitoring program of the blazar OJ287 using the 100m Effelsberg radio telescope. We analyze the evolution in total flux density, linear and circular polarization to study the jet structure and its magnetic field geometry. The total flux density is measured at nine bands from 2.64 GHz to 43 GHz, the linear polarization parameters between 2.64 GHz and 10.45 GHz, and the circular polarization at 4.85 GHz and 8.35 GHz. The mean cadence is 10 days. Between MJD 57370 and 57785, OJ287 showed flaring activity and complex linear and circular polarization behavior. The radio EVPA showed a large clockwise (CW) rotation by ~340$^{circ}$ with a mean rate of -1.04 $^{circ}$/day. Based on concurrent VLBI data, the rotation seems to originate within the jet core at 43 GHz (projected size $le$ 0.15 mas or 0.67 pc). Moreover, optical data show a similar monotonic CW EVPA rotation with a rate of about -1.1 $^{circ}$/day which is superposed with shorter and faster rotations of about 7.8 $^{circ}$/day. The observed variability is consistent with a polarized emission component propagating on a helical trajectory within a bent jet. We constrained the helix arc length to 0.26 pc and radius to $le$ 0.04 pc as well as the jet bending arc length projected on the plane of the sky to $le$ 1.9-7.6 pc. A similar bending is observed in high angular resolution VLBI images at the innermost jet regions. Our results indicate also the presence of a stable polarized emission component with EVPA (-10$^{circ}$) perpendicular to the large scale jet, suggesting dominance of the poloidal magnetic field component. Finally, the EVPA rotation begins simultaneously with an optical flare and hence the two might be physically connected. That optical flare has been linked to the interaction of a secondary SMBH with the inner accretion disk or originating in the jet of the primary.



قيم البحث

اقرأ أيضاً

Radio emission in blazars -- the aligned subset of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) -- is produced by synchrotron electrons moving relativistically in their jets magnetic field. Under the assumption of some degree of uniformity of the field, the emission can be highly polarized -- linearly and circularly. In the radio regime, the observed variability is in most of the cases attributed to flaring events undergoing opacity evolution, i.e. transitions from optically thick to thin emission (or vice versa). These transistions have a specific signature in the polarization parameter space (angle and magnitude) which can be traced with high cadence polarization monitoring and provide us with a unique probe of the microphysics of the emitting region. Here we present the full Stokes analysis of radio emission from blazars observed in the framework of the F-GAMMA program and discuss the case study of PKS,1510$-$089 which has shown a prominent polarization event around MJD 55900.
The Gamma-ray BL Lac object OJ 287 is known to exhibit inner-parsec jet-wobbling, high degrees of variability at all wavelengths and quasi-stationary features including an apparent (~100 deg) position angle change in projection on the sky plane. Sub- 50 micro-arcsecond resolution 86 GHz observations with the global mm-VLBI array (GMVA) supplement ongoing multi-frequency VLBI blazar monitoring at lower frequencies. Using these maps together with cm/mm total intensity and Gamma-ray observations from Fermi/LAT from 2008-2014, we aimed to determine the location of Gamma-ray emission and to explain the inner-mas structural changes. Observations with the GMVA offer approximately double the angular resolution compared with 43 GHz VLBA observations and allow us to observe above the synchrotron self-absorption peak frequency. The jet was spectrally decomposed at multiple locations along the jet. From this we derived estimates of the magnetic field. How the field decreases down the jet allowed an estimate of the distance to the jet apex and an estimate of the magnetic field strength at the jet apex and in the broad line region. Combined with accurate kinematics we attempt to locate the site of Gamma-ray activity, radio flares and spectral changes. Strong Gamma-ray flares appeared to originate from either the core region, a downstream stationary feature, or both, with Gamma-ray activity significantly correlated with radio flaring in the downstream quasi-stationary feature. Magnetic field estimates were determined at multiple locations along the jet, with the magnetic field found to be >1.6 G in the core and >0.4 G in the downstream quasi-stationary feature. We therefore found upper limits on the location of the core as >6.0 pc from the jet apex and determined an upper limit on the magnetic field near the jet base of the order of thousands of Gauss.
We analyze the linear polarization of the relativistic jet in BL Lacertae object OJ~287 as revealed by multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) images at 43 GHz and monitoring observations at optical bands. The electric-vector position angle (EVPA ) of the optical polarization matches that at 43 GHz at locations that are often in the compact millimeter-wave core or, at other epochs, coincident with a bright, quasi-stationary emission feature $sim0.2$~milliarcsec ($sim$0.9~pc projected on the sky) downstream from the core. This implies that electrons with high enough energies to emit optical synchrotron and $gamma$-ray inverse Compton radiation are accelerated both in the core and at the downstream feature, the latter of which lies $geq10$~pc from the central engine. The polarization vector in the stationary feature is nearly parallel to the jet axis, as expected for a conical standing shock capable of accelerating electrons to GeV energies.
We present the results of simultaneous multi-frequency imaging observations at 22, 43, 86, and 129,GHz of OJ,287. We used the Korean VLBI Network as part of the Interferometric MOnitoring of GAmma-ray Bright active galactic nuclei (iMOGABA). The iMOG ABA observations were performed during 31 epochs from 2013 January 16 to 2016 December 28. We also used 15,GHz OVRO and 225,GHz SMA flux density data. We analyzed four flux enhancements in the light curves. The estimated time scales of three flux enhancements were similar with time scales of $sim$50 days at two frequencies. A fourth flux enhancement had a variability timescale approximately twice as long. We found that 225,GHz enhancements led the 15,GHz enhancements by a range of 7 to 30 days in the time delay analysis. We found the fractional variability did not change with frequency between 43 and 86,GHz. We could reliably measure the turnover frequency, $ u_{rm c}$, of the core of the source in three epochs. This was measured to be in a range from 27 to 50,GHz and a flux density at the turnover frequency, $S_{rm m}$, ranging from 3-6,Jy. The derived SSA magnetic fields, $B_{rm SSA}$, are in a range from $0.157pm0.104$ to $0.255pm0.146$ mG. We estimated the equipartition magnetic field strengths to be in a range from $0.95pm0.15$ to $1.93pm0.30$ mG. The equipartition magnetic field strengths are up to a factor of 10 higher than the values of $B_{rm SSA}$. We conclude that the downstream jet may be more particle energy dominated.
62 - M.H. Cohen 2018
We have obtained a smooth time series for the Electric Vector Position Angle (EVPA) of the blazar OJ 287 at centimeter wavelengths, by making $pm npi$ adjustments to archival values from 1974 to 2016. The data display rotation reversals in which the EVPA rotates counter-clockwise (CCW) for 180 deg and then rotates clockwise (CW) by a similar amount. The time scale of the rotations is a few weeks to a year, and the scale for a double rotation, including the reversal, is one to three years. We have seen four of these events in 40 years. A model consisting of two successive outbursts in polarized flux density, with EVPAs counter-rotating, superposed on a steady polarized jet, can explain many of the details of the observations. Polarization images support this interpretation. The model can also help to explain similar events seen at optical wavelengths. The outbursts needed for the model can be generated by the super-magnetosonic jet model of Nakamura et al. (2010) and Nakamura and Meier (2014), which requires a strong helical magnetic field. This model produces forward and reverse pairs of fast and slow MHD waves, and the plasma inside the two fast/slow pairs rotates around the jet axis, but in opposite directions.
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات جاري جلب التعليقات
سجل دخول لتتمكن من متابعة معايير البحث التي قمت باختيارها
mircosoft-partner

هل ترغب بارسال اشعارات عن اخر التحديثات في شمرا-اكاديميا