The bright blazar OJ 287 is the best-known candidate for hosting a nanohertz gravitational wave (GW) emitting supermassive binary black hole (SMBBH) in the present observable universe. The binary black hole (BBH) central engine model, proposed by Lehto and Valtonen in 1996, was influenced by the two distinct periodicities inferred from the optical light curve of OJ 287. The current improved model employs an accurate general relativistic description to track the trajectory of the secondary black hole (BH) which is crucial to predict the inherent impact flares of OJ 287. The successful observations of three predicted impact flares open up the possibility of using this BBH system to test general relativity in a hitherto unexplored strong field regime. Additionally, we briefly describe an on-going effort to interpret observations of OJ 287 in a Bayesian framework.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1905.02689,
title = {The Unique Blazar OJ 287 and its Massive Binary Black Hole Central Engine},
author = {Lankeswar Dey and Achamveedu Gopakumar and Mauri Valtonen and Stanislaw Zola and Abhimanyu Susobhanan and Rene Hudec and Pauli Pihajoki and Tapio Pursimo and Andrei Berdyugin and Vilppu Piirola and Stefano Ciprini and Kari Nilsson and Helen Jermak and Mark Kidger and Stefanie Komossa},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.02689},
year = {2019}
}
Comments
Invited review article; 16 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, to appear in Universe