Related papers: Gamma-ray Blazars Within the First 2 Billion Years
Blazars are among the most studied sources in high-energy astrophysics as they form the largest fraction of extragalactic gamma-ray sources and are considered prime candidates for being the counterparts of high-energy astrophysical…
We present the results of Chandra observations of six radio-loud quasars (RLQs) and one optically bright radio-quiet quasar (RQQ) at z = 4.1-4.4. These observations cover a representative sample of RLQs with moderate radio-loudness (R ~…
We present the results of our follow-up observation program of gamma-ray sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. 26 blazars and 39 sources unidentified at other wavelengths were…
The gamma-ray emission from Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs), a sub-class of blazars, is believed to be generated through interactions of high-energy leptons and/or hadrons in the jet with the ambient photon fields, including those from…
At redshift larger than 3 there is a disagreement between the number of blazars (whose jet is pointing at us) and the number of expected parents (whose jet is pointing elsewhere). Now we strengthen this claim because (i) the number of…
We present results from the first two years of our fast-cadence 15 GHz gamma-ray blazar monitoring program, part of the F-GAMMA radio monitoring project. Our sample includes the 1158 blazars north of -20 degrees declination from the…
The most powerful blazars are the flat spectrum radio quasars whose emission is dominated by a Compton component peaking between a few hundred keV and a few hundred MeV. We selected two bright blazars, PKS 2149-306 at redshift z=2.345 and…
The large majority of sources detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are blazars, belonging in particular to the blazar subclass of BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs). BL Lacs often have featureless optical spectra, which make it…
Outbursts from gamma-ray quasars provide insights on the relativistic jets of active galactic nuclei and constraints on the diffuse radiation fields that fill the Universe. The detection of significant emission above 100 GeV from a distant…
The discovery of high-energy (E>100 MeV) gamma rays from Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (gamma-NLS1s) has confirmed the presence of powerful relativistic jets in this class of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Although the jet emission is…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the ultimate cosmic lighthouses, capable of illuminating the universe at its earliest epochs. Could such events probe the properties of the first stars at z $\sim$ 20, the end of the cosmic Dark Ages? Previous…
Due to their extreme luminosities, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can be detected in hostile regions of galaxies, nearby and at very high redshift, making them important cosmological probes. The investigation of galaxies hosting long-duration GRBs…
The Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope provides an unprecedented opportunity to study gamma-ray blazars. To capitalize on this opportunity, beginning in late 2007, about a year before the start of LAT…
We calculate the absorption of 10-500 GeV gamma-rays at high redshifts. This calculation requires the determination of the high-redshift evolution of the intergalactic starlight photon field, including its IR-UV spectral energy…
A gamma-ray burst (GRB) releases an amount of energy similar to that of a supernova explosion, which combined with its rapid variability suggests an origin related to neutron stars or black holes. Since these compact stellar remnants form…
Blazars are a highly-variable, radio-loud subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGN). In order to better understand such objects we must be able to easily identify candidate blazars from the growing population of unidentified sources. Working…
Long-duration Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) allow us to pinpoint and study star-forming galaxies in the early universe, thanks to their orders of magnitude brighter peak luminosities compared to other astrophysical sources, and their association…
At low redshifts powerful radio sources are uniquely associated with massive galaxies, and are thought to be powered by supermassive black holes. Modern 8m -- 10m telescopes may be used used to find their likely progenitors at very high…
Supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies are very common. They are known to rotate, accrete, spin down and eject highly relativistic jets; those jets pointed at us all seem to show a spectrum with two strong bumps, one in the TeV…
The impact of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope on blazar research is reviewed. This includes a brief description of the Fermi Large Area Telescope, a summary of the various classes of extragalactic sources found in the First Large Area…