Multiwavelength observations of the blazar BL Lacertae: A new fast TeV γ-ray flare

Q. Feng; S. G. Jorstad; A. P. Marscher; M. L. Lister; Y. Y. Kovalev; A. B. Pushkarev; T. Savolainen; I. Agudo; S. N. Molina; J. L. Gomez; V. M. Larionov; G. A. Borman; A. A. Mokrushina; P. S. Smith

Multiwavelength observations of the blazar BL Lacertae: A new fast TeV γ-ray flare

Q. Feng
, S. G. Jorstad
, A. P. Marscher
, M. L. Lister
, Y. Y. Kovalev
, A. B. Pushkarev
, T. Savolainen
, I. Agudo
, S. N. Molina
, J. L. Gomez
, V. M. Larionov
, G. A. Borman
, A. A. Mokrushina
, P. S. Smith

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › Scientific › peer-review

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Abstract

Observations of fast TeV γ-ray flares from blazars reveal the extreme compactness of emitting regions in blazar jets. Combined with very-long-baseline radio interferometry measurements, they probe the structure and emission mechanism of the jet. We report on a fast TeV γ-ray flare from BL Lacertae observed by VERITAS, with a rise time of about 2.3 hours and a decay time of about 36 minutes. The peak flux at >200 GeV measured with the 4-minute binned light curve is (4.2 ±0.6) × 10^-6 photons m^-2 s^-1, or ∼180% the Crab Nebula flux. Variability in GeV γ-ray, X-ray, and optical flux, as well as in optical and radio polarization was observed around the time of the TeV γ-ray flare. A possible superluminal knot was identified in the VLBA observations at 43 GHz. The flare constrains the size of the emitting region, and is consistent with several theoretical models with stationary shocks.

Original language	English
Number of pages	8
Journal	POS Proceedings of Science
Volume	Part F135186
Publication status	Published - 2017
MoE publication type	A4 Conference publication
Event	International Cosmic Ray Conference - Busan, Korea, Republic of Duration: 10 Jul 2017 → 20 Jul 2017 Conference number: 35

Funding

VERITAS is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution, and by NSERC in Canada. We acknowledge the excellent work of the technical support staff at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and at the collaborating institutions in the construction and operation of the instrument. The VERITAS Collaboration is grateful to Trevor Weekes for his seminal contributions and leadership in the field of VHE γ-ray astrophysics, which made this study possible. The research at Boston University was supported in part by NASA Fermi Guest Investigator Program grant NNX14AQ58G. The VLBA is an instrument of the Long Baseline Observatory (LBO). The LBO is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The MOJAVE program is supported under NASA-Fermi grant NNX15AU76G. Data from the Steward Observatory spectropolarimetric monitoring project were used. This program is supported by Fermi Guest Investigator grants NNX15AU81G. IA acknowledges support by a Ramón y Cajal grant of the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) of Spain. The MAPCAT program was funded in part by MINECO through grants AYA2010-14844, AYA2013-40825-P, and AYA2016-80889-P, and by the Regional Government of Andalucía through grant P09-FQM-4784.

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savolainenICRC2017_648Final published version, 872 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

https://pos.sissa.it/301/648/

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Feng, Q., Jorstad, S. G., Marscher, A. P., Lister, M. L., Kovalev, Y. Y., Pushkarev, A. B., Savolainen, T., Agudo, I., Molina, S. N., Gomez, J. L., Larionov, V. M., Borman, G. A., Mokrushina, A. A., & Smith, P. S. (2017). Multiwavelength observations of the blazar BL Lacertae: A new fast TeV γ-ray flare. POS Proceedings of Science, Part F135186. https://pos.sissa.it/301/648/

@article{e760d53a1eda4d1592e4cba0101e7de1,

title = "Multiwavelength observations of the blazar BL Lacertae: A new fast TeV γ-ray flare",

abstract = "Observations of fast TeV γ-ray flares from blazars reveal the extreme compactness of emitting regions in blazar jets. Combined with very-long-baseline radio interferometry measurements, they probe the structure and emission mechanism of the jet. We report on a fast TeV γ-ray flare from BL Lacertae observed by VERITAS, with a rise time of about 2.3 hours and a decay time of about 36 minutes. The peak flux at >200 GeV measured with the 4-minute binned light curve is (4.2 ±0.6) × 10-6 photons m-2 s-1, or ∼180\% the Crab Nebula flux. Variability in GeV γ-ray, X-ray, and optical flux, as well as in optical and radio polarization was observed around the time of the TeV γ-ray flare. A possible superluminal knot was identified in the VLBA observations at 43 GHz. The flare constrains the size of the emitting region, and is consistent with several theoretical models with stationary shocks.",

author = "Q. Feng and Jorstad, \{S. G.\} and Marscher, \{A. P.\} and Lister, \{M. L.\} and Kovalev, \{Y. Y.\} and Pushkarev, \{A. B.\} and T. Savolainen and I. Agudo and Molina, \{S. N.\} and Gomez, \{J. L.\} and Larionov, \{V. M.\} and Borman, \{G. A.\} and Mokrushina, \{A. A.\} and Smith, \{P. S.\}",

year = "2017",

language = "English",

volume = "Part F135186",

journal = "POS Proceedings of Science",

issn = "1824-8039",

publisher = "Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)",

note = "International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC ; Conference date: 10-07-2017 Through 20-07-2017",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Multiwavelength observations of the blazar BL Lacertae

T2 - International Cosmic Ray Conference

AU - Feng, Q.

AU - Jorstad, S. G.

AU - Marscher, A. P.

AU - Lister, M. L.

AU - Kovalev, Y. Y.

AU - Pushkarev, A. B.

AU - Savolainen, T.

AU - Agudo, I.

AU - Molina, S. N.

AU - Gomez, J. L.

AU - Larionov, V. M.

AU - Borman, G. A.

AU - Mokrushina, A. A.

AU - Smith, P. S.

N1 - Conference code: 35

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Observations of fast TeV γ-ray flares from blazars reveal the extreme compactness of emitting regions in blazar jets. Combined with very-long-baseline radio interferometry measurements, they probe the structure and emission mechanism of the jet. We report on a fast TeV γ-ray flare from BL Lacertae observed by VERITAS, with a rise time of about 2.3 hours and a decay time of about 36 minutes. The peak flux at >200 GeV measured with the 4-minute binned light curve is (4.2 ±0.6) × 10-6 photons m-2 s-1, or ∼180% the Crab Nebula flux. Variability in GeV γ-ray, X-ray, and optical flux, as well as in optical and radio polarization was observed around the time of the TeV γ-ray flare. A possible superluminal knot was identified in the VLBA observations at 43 GHz. The flare constrains the size of the emitting region, and is consistent with several theoretical models with stationary shocks.

AB - Observations of fast TeV γ-ray flares from blazars reveal the extreme compactness of emitting regions in blazar jets. Combined with very-long-baseline radio interferometry measurements, they probe the structure and emission mechanism of the jet. We report on a fast TeV γ-ray flare from BL Lacertae observed by VERITAS, with a rise time of about 2.3 hours and a decay time of about 36 minutes. The peak flux at >200 GeV measured with the 4-minute binned light curve is (4.2 ±0.6) × 10-6 photons m-2 s-1, or ∼180% the Crab Nebula flux. Variability in GeV γ-ray, X-ray, and optical flux, as well as in optical and radio polarization was observed around the time of the TeV γ-ray flare. A possible superluminal knot was identified in the VLBA observations at 43 GHz. The flare constrains the size of the emitting region, and is consistent with several theoretical models with stationary shocks.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85045375598

M3 - Conference article

SN - 1824-8039

VL - Part F135186

JO - POS Proceedings of Science

JF - POS Proceedings of Science

Y2 - 10 July 2017 through 20 July 2017

ER -

Multiwavelength observations of the blazar BL Lacertae: A new fast TeV γ-ray flare

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Multiwavelength observations of the blazar BL Lacertae: A new fast TeV γ-ray flare

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