Related papers: ASCA Observations of Blazars and Multiband Analysi…
A sample of 312 low-frequency peaked BL Lacertae objects (LBLs) and 694 flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) with the parameters both redshift and $\gamma$-ray photon spectral index ($\Gamma _\gamma$) is compiled from the active galactic…
The current generation of Cherenkov telescopes, together with Fermi-LAT, have greatly increased our knowledge of $\gamma$-ray blazars. Among them, the high-frequency-peaked BL Lacertae object (HBL) PKS1424+240 (z $\simeq$ 0.6) is the…
In this review, recent progress in theoretical models for the broadband (radio through gamma-ray) emission from blazars are summarized. The salient features of both leptonic and hadronic models are reviewed. I present sample modeling…
We present preliminary results of our work on blazar unification. We assume that all blazars have a broad line region (BLR) and that the size of the BLR scales with the power of the source in a manner similar to that derived through…
We present recent ROSAT, ASCA and SAX observations of intermediate BL Lac objects (IBLs), i.e. BL Lacs which are located between high-energy and low-energy peaked BL Lac objects with respect to alpha_rx. Both the statistical properties of…
We report on the discovery of high-energy (HE; E > 0.1 GeV) and very high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission from the high-frequency-peaked BL Lac object RBS 0413. VERITAS, a ground-based gamma-ray observatory, detected VHE gamma…
Blazars are highly variable active galactic nuclei which emit radiation at all wavelengths from radio to gamma-rays. Polarized radiation from blazars is one key piece of evidence for synchrotron radiation at low energies and it also varies…
The BL Lac object RGB J0152+017 (z = 0.080) was predicted to be a very high-energy (VHE; > 100 GeV) gamma-ray source, due to its high X-ray and radio fluxes. We report recent observations of this source made in late October and November…
In a previous paper, we proposed a new method to select low-power BL Lacs (LPBLs) based on mid-infrared emission and flux contrast through the Ca II spectral break; that study led to the selection of a complete sample formed by 34 LPBLs…
Blazars, a subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGN), are known to be bright $\gamma$-ray sources, frequently exhibiting active (flaring) periods. The blazar PKS~2155-304 is a high synchrotron-peaked BL Lac object located at redshift…
Blazars are among the most energetic and violent objects in the universe. By observing blazars at very high energies (VHE, E > 100 GeV) we can better understand blazar emission mechanisms, jet structure, black hole accretion and the…
Since 2002, the number of detected blazars at gamma-ray energies above 100 GeV has more than doubled. I study 17 blazars currently known to emit E>100 GeV gamma rays. Their intrinsic energy spectra are reconstructed by removing…
We use statistical results from a large sample of about 500 blazars, based on two surveys, the Deep X-ray Radio Blazar Survey (DXRBS), nearly complete, and the RASS-Green Bank survey (RGB), to provide new constraints on the spectral energy…
Very-high-energy (VHE) BL Lac spectra extending above $10 \, \rm TeV$ provide a unique opportunity for testing physics beyond the standard model of elementary particle and alternative blazar emission models. We consider the hadron beam, the…
The X-ray luminous quasar GB 1428+4217 at redshift 4.72 has been observed with ASCA. The observed 0.5-10 keV flux is 3.2E-12 erg/s/cm2. We report here on the intrinsic 4-57 keV X-ray spectrum, which is very flat (photon index of 1.29). We…
The results of the first extragalactic gamma-ray survey by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) are presented. The survey comprises 2720 hours of very high-energy gamma-ray observations of the extragalactic sky, recorded with…
High-redshift radio sources provide plentiful opportunities for studying the formation and evolution of early galaxies and supermassive black holes. However, the number of known radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) above redshift 4 is…
We present deep radio images at 1.4 GHz of a large and complete sample of BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs) selected from the Deep X-ray Radio Blazar Survey (DXRBS). We have observed 24 northern sources with the Very Large Array (VLA) in both…
Very high-energy gamma-rays (VHE, E>100 GeV) propagating over cosmological distances can interact with the low-energy photons of the extragalactic background light (EBL) and produce electron-positron pairs. The transparency of the universe…
Flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) are a particular class of blazars rich of optical/ultraviolet photons inside the broad line region (BLR), necessarily implying a huge optical depth for $\gamma$ rays above 20 GeV. As a consequence,…