English

B2 1308+326: a changing-look blazar or not?

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2024-12-17 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies

Abstract

In our previous study, we identified a shift in the synchrotron peak frequency of the blazar B2 1308++326 from 1012.9^{12.9} Hz to 1014.8^{14.8} Hz during a flare, suggesting it could be a changing-look blazar (CLB). In this work, we investigate the CL behaviour of B2 1308+326 by analysing a newly acquired optical spectrum and comparing it with an archival spectrum. We find that between the two epochs, the continuum flux increased by a factor of \sim4.4, while the Mg II emission line flux decreased by a factor of 1.4±\pm0.2. Additionally, the equivalent width of the Mg II line reduced from 20\sim 20 \AA \ to 3\sim 3 \AA, indicating an apparent shift from a flat-spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) class to a BL Lacertae (BL Lac) class. Despite this apparent change, the ratio of accretion disk luminosity to Eddington luminosity remains >> 102^{-2} during both epochs, indicating efficient accretion persists in B2 1308++326. The measured black hole mass remains consistent with an average logMBH=8.44\log M_{\rm BH} = 8.44 M_{\odot}. Our findings suggest that B2 1308++326 is not a genuine CLB, but rather an intrinsic FSRQ that emerges as a BL Lac during high-flux states due to enhanced non-thermal emission.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2412.10552,
  title  = {B2 1308+326: a changing-look blazar or not?},
  author = {Ashwani Pandey and Chen Hu and Jian-Min Wang and Bozena Czerny and Yong-Jie Chen and Yu-Yang Songsheng and Yi-Lin Wang and Hao Zhang and Jesus Aceituno},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.10552},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

8 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

R2 v1 2026-06-28T20:34:47.666Z