Related papers: The effects of frequency-dependent quasar variabil…
(Abridged) We report on the X-ray and multiwavelength properties of 11 radio-quiet quasars with weak or no emission lines identified by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with redshift z=0.4-2.5. The distribution of relative X-ray…
Context. We present the light curves of six BL Lac objects, PKS 0537-441, PKS 0735+17, OJ 287, PKS 2005-489, PKS 2155-304, W Comae, and of the flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 1510-089, as a part of a photometric monitoring program in the…
Optical spectropolarimetry carried out by Kishimoto et al. (2004) has shown that several luminous type 1 quasars show a strong decrease of the polarized continuum flux in the rest-frame near-UV wavelengths of $\lambda<4000$\AA. In the…
We report a serendipitous detection of rapid, large amplitude flux density variations in the highly core-dominated, flat-spectrum radio quasar 1156+295 during an observing session at the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). The source was…
We present the first results of an ongoing intra-day variability (IDV) flux density monitoring program of 107 blazars, which were selected from a sample of RadioAstron space very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) targets. The~IDV…
We characterize the optical variability of quasars in the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) and Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) surveys. We re-calibrate the $r$-band light curves for $\sim$28,000 luminous, broad-line AGNs from…
This study is focused on the observational measurement of the viewing angle of individual quasars by modeling the broadband quasar spectrum ranging from the infra-red (IR) to the soft X-ray band. Sources are selected from various published…
We discuss the impact of special relativistic effects on the observed light curves and variability duty cycles of AGNs. We model the properties of AGN light curves at radio wavelengths using a simulated shot noise process in which the…
A stochastic gravitational wave background causes the apparent positions of distant sources to fluctuate, with angular deflections of order the characteristic strain amplitude of the gravitational waves. These fluctuations may be detectable…
UBVR photometry of a sample of B3-VLA radio quasars, about 80 per cent complete, is used to analyse their spectral energy distribution (SED). The SEDs are generally well fitted with power-laws, with an average slope alpha=-0.39 (S_nu propto…
The associations of the angular positions of background quasars with foreground galaxies, clusters of galaxies and quasars are often attributed to the statistical lensing by gravitational potentials of the matter along the lines of sight,…
The alignment between the radio-based International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) and the optical Gaia Celestial Reference Frame (Gaia-CRF) is critical for multi-waveband astronomy, yet systematic offsets at the optical bright end (G<13)…
The celestial reference frame is realized by absolute positions of extragalactic sources that are assumed to be fixed in the space. The fixing of the axes is one of the crucial points for the International Celestial Reference System (ICRS)…
We analyze a sample of optical light curves for 100 quasars, 70 of which have black hole mass estimates. Our sample is the largest and broadest used yet for modeling quasar variability. The sources in our sample have z < 2.8 and 10^6 < M_BH…
Positions and proper motions of Gaia sources are expressed in a reference frame that ideally should be non-rotating relative to distant extragalactic objects, coincident with the International Celestial Reference System (ICRS), and…
The measurement of shape parameters of sources in astronomical images is usually performed by assuming that the underlying noise is uncorrelated. Spatial noise correlation is however present in practice due to various observational effects…
We examine the long-term evolution of the intra-hour variable quasar, J1819+3845, whose variations have been attributed to interstellar scintillation by extremely local turbulent plasma, located only 1-3pc from Earth. The variations in this…
Emission from Active Galactic Nuclei is known to vary strongly over time over a wide energy band, but the origin of the variability and especially of the inter-band correlations is still not well established. Here we present the results of…
Radio-loud active galactic nuclei (RLAGN) play an important role in the evolution of galaxies through the effects on their environment. The two major morphological classes are core-bright (FRI) and edge-bright (FRII) sources. With the…
VLA B-configuration snapshots have been obtained at 6cm and 20cm of 43 radio quasars with a range of known galaxy cluster environments. The radio sources are characterised by measures of morphology, flux, and size. These are studied as a…