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Related papers: Optical and X-ray Variability of Blazars

200 papers

We monitored the BL Lac object S5 0716+714 in the optical band during October 2008, December 2008 and February 2009 with a best temporal resolution of about 5 minutes in the BVRI bands. Four fast flares were observed with amplitudes ranging…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2014-11-20 H. Poon , J. H. Fan , J. N. Fu

We present a polarization variability analysis of a sample of 26 $\gamma$-ray blazars monitored by the Steward Observatory between 2008 and 2018 in the optical band. We investigate the properties and long-term variability of their optical…

We have considered all blazars observed in the X-ray band and for which the slope of the X-ray spectrum is available. We have collected 421 spectra of 268 blazars, including 12 archival unpublished ASCA spectra of 7 blazars whose analysisis…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-06 D. Donato , G. Ghisellini , G. Tagliaferri , G. Fossati

Recent VHE observations have unveiled a surprising behaviour in two well-known blazars at opposite sides of the blazar sequence. PKS 2155-304 have shown for the first time in an HBL a large Compton dominance, high gamma-ray luminosities and…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2009-07-24 L. Costamante , F. Aharonian , R. Buehler , D. Khangulyan , A. Reimer , O. Reimer

We use optical photometric and polarimetric data of BL Lacertae that cover a period of 22 years to study the variability of the source. The long-term observations are employed for establishing parameters of a stochastic model consisting of…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-17 D. A. Blinov , V. A. Hagen-Thorn

In 2015 July 29 - September 1 the satellite XMM-Newton pointed at the BL Lac object PG 1553+133 six times, collecting data for 218 hours. During one of these epochs, simultaneous observations by the Swift satellite were requested to compare…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2019-08-13 C. M. Raiteri , F. Nicastro , A. Stamerra , M. Villata , V. M. Larionov , D. Blinov , J. A. Acosta-Pulido

Context. 3C 454.3 is a very active flat spectrum radio quasar (blazar) that has undergone a recent outburst in all observed bands, including the optical. Aims. In this work we explore the short-term optical variability of 3C 454.3 during…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-05-27 R. Bachev , E. Semkov , A. Strigachev , B. Mihov , A. C. Gupta , S. Peneva , E. Ovcharov , A. Valcheva , A. Lalova

We present a first systematic time series study of a sample of blazars observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite $\textit{TESS}$ spacecraft. By cross matching the positions of the sources in the TESS observations with those from…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2022-11-23 Vivek Reddy Pininti , Gopal Bhatta , Sagarika Paul , Aman Kumar , Aayushi Rajgor , Rahul Barnwal , Sarvesh Gharat

BL Lacertae had undergone a series of historical high flux activity over a year, from August 2020 in the optical to VHE $\gamma$-rays. In this paper, we report on optical flux and spectral variability of the first historical maxima outburst…

About twenty years of radio observations in five bands (from 4.8 to 37 GHz) of the BL Lac object GC 0109+224 (S2 0109+22, RGB J0112+227), are presented and analysed together with the optical data. Over the past ten years this blazar has…

Astrophysics · Physics 2016-08-16 Stefano Ciprini , Gino Tosti , Harri Teräsranta , Hugh D. Aller

Blazars are known to display strong and erratic variability at almost all the wavelengths of electromagnetic spectrum. Presently, variability studies at high-energies (hard X-rays, gamma-rays) are hampered by low sensitivity of the…

We present the results from a study of the long-term optical spectral variations of BL Lacertae, using the long and well-sampled B and R-band light curves of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) collaboration, binned on time intervals of…

Astrophysics · Physics 2019-08-19 I. E. Papadakis , M. Villata , C. M. Raiteri

Spectropolarimetry is a powerful tool to investigate the central regions of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) as polarization signatures are key to probing magnetic field structure, evolution, and the physics of particle acceleration in jets.…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-06-26 Stephanie A. Podjed , Ryan C. Hickox , Jedidah C. Isler , Markus Böttcher , Hester M. Schutte

At the end of March 2004, the blazar S5 0716+714 underwent an optical outburst that prompted for quasi-simultaneous target-of-opportunity observations with the INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton satellites. In this paper, we report the results of the…

Blazars are highly variable and display complex characteristics. A key characteristic is the flux probability distribution function or flux PDF whose shape depends upon the form of the underlying physical process driving variability. The BL…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2020-01-09 Nachiketa Chakraborty

We present radio-to-optical data taken by the WEBT, supplemented by VLBA and RXTE observations, of 3C 279. Our goal is to use this extensive database to draw inferences regarding the physics of the relativistic jet. We assemble…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 V. M. Larionov , S. G. Jorstad , A. P. Marscher , C. M. Raiteri , M. Villata

We report on long-term multi-wavelength monitoring of blazar Mrk~421 from 2010 to 2011. The source exhibited extreme X-ray flares in 2010. Our research group performed optical photopolarimetric follow-up observations using the Kanata…

Study of the polarization behaviour in blazars is a powerful tool to discern the role of magnetic field in the variable emission process in their relativistic jets. We present here results of our systematic investigation on the correlation…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2022-01-12 Ashwani Pandey , Bhoomika Rajput , C. S. Stalin

We report on the full analysis of a Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) Proportional Counter Array (PCA) monitoring of the {\gamma}-ray binary system LS I +61 303. The data set covers 42 contiguous cycles of the system orbital motion.…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-05-27 Jian Li , Diego F. Torres , Shu Zhang , Yupeng Chen , Daniela Hadasch , Paul S. Ray , Peter Kretschmar , Nanda Rea , Jianmin Wang

We present an analysis of the cross-correlation between optical brightness and polarization degree in different types of blazars. The aim is to identify objects with simultaneous and consistent changes in characteristics and to determine if…