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Identification of blazar candidates behind Small and Large Magellanic Clouds

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 نشر من قبل Natalia Zywucka
 تاريخ النشر 2018
  مجال البحث فيزياء
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We report the identification of blazar candidates behind the Magellanic Clouds. The objects were selected from the Magellanic Quasars Survey (MQS), which targeted the entire Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and 70% of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Among the 758 MQS quasars and 898 of unidentified (featureless spectra) objects, we identified a sample of 44 blazar candidates, including 27 flat spectrum radio quasars and 17 BL Lacertae objects, respectively. All the blazar candidates from our sample were identified with respect to their radio, optical, and mid-infrared properties. The newly selected blazar candidates possess the long-term, multi-colour photometric data from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment, multi-colour mid-infrared observations, and archival radio data for one frequency at least. In addition, for nine of them the radio polarization data are available. With such data, these objects can be used to study the physics behind the blazar variability detected in the optical and mid-infrared bands, as a tool to investigate magnetic field geometry of the LMC and SMC, and as an exemplary sample of point like sources most likely detectable in $gamma$-ray range with the newly emerging Cherenkov Telescope Array.



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We present an optical variability study of 44 newly identified blazar candidates behind the Magellanic Clouds, including 27 flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and 17 BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs). All objects in the sample possess high photometric a ccuracy and irregularly sampled optical light curves (LCs) in I filter from the long-term monitoring conducted by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. We investigated the variability properties to look for blazar-like characteristics and to analyze the long-term behaviour. We analyzed the LCs with the Lomb-Scargle periodogram to construct power spectral densities (PSDs), found breaks for several objects, and linked them with accretion disk properties. In this way we constrained the black hole (BH) masses of 18 FSRQs to lie within the range $8.18leqlog (M_{rm BH}/M_odot)leq 10.84$, assuming a wide range of possible BH spins. By estimating the bolometric luminosities, we applied the fundamental plane of active galactic nuclei variability as an independent estimate, resulting in $8.4leqlog (M_{rm BH}/M_odot)leq 9.6$, with a mean error of 0.3. Many of the objects have very steep PSDs, with high frequency spectral index in the range $3-7$. An alternative attempt to classify the LCs was made using the Hurst exponent, $H$, and the $mathcal{A}-mathcal{T}$ plane. Two FSRQs and four BL Lacs yielded $H>0.5$, indicating presence of long-term memory in the underlying process governing the variability. Additionally, two FSRQs with exceptional PSDs, stand out also in the $mathcal{A}-mathcal{T}$ plane.
We present results of a variability study in the optical band of 44 newly identified blazar candidates behind the Magellanic Clouds. Our sample contains 27 flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and 17 BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs). However, only nine o f them are considered as secure blazar candidates, while the classification of the remaining 35 objects is still uncertain. All studied blazar candidates possess infrequently sampled optical light curves (LCs) in I filter provided by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment group. The LCs were analysed with the Lomb-Scargle periodogram, the Hurst exponent $H$, and the $mathcal{A}-mathcal{T}$ plane, to look for blazar-like characteristic features and to study the long-term behaviour of the optical fluxes. The power law (PL) indices of the Lomb-Scargle power spectral density (PSD) of the FSRQ blazar candidates mostly lie in the range (1,2). In case of the BL Lacs they are located in the range (1,1.8). The PL PSD is indicative of a self-affine stochastic process characterised by $H$, underlying the observed variability. We find that the majority of analysed objects have $Hleq 0.5$, indicating short-term memory, whereas four BL Lacs and two FSRQs have $H>0.5$, implying long-term memory. 41 blazar candidates are located in the $mathcal{A}-mathcal{T}$ plane in the region available to PL plus Poisson noise processes. Interestingly, one FSRQ is located marginally below this region, while two FSRQs lie above the line $mathcal{T}=2/3$, i.e. they are even more noisy than white noise. The BL Lac candidates are characterised by higher $mathcal{A}$ values than FSRQs, i.e. $0.71pm 0.06$ and $0.29pm 0.05$, respectively.
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