We present the first extensive radio to γ-ray observations of a fast-rising blue optical transient (FBOT), AT 2018cow, over its first ∼100 days. AT 2018cow rose over a few days to a peak luminosity L pk ∼ 4 × 10 44 erg s −1 exceeding those of superluminous supernovae (SNe), before declining as L ∝ t −2 . Initial spectra at δt 15 days were mostly featureless and indicated large expansion velocities v ∼ 0.1 c and temperatures arXiv:1810.10720v1 [astro-ph.HE] 25 Oct 2018 2 MARGUTTI ET AL. reaching T ∼ 3 × 10 4 K. Later spectra revealed a persistent optically-thick photosphere and the emergence of H and He emission features with v ∼ 4000 km s −1 with no evidence for ejecta cooling. Our broad-band monitoring revealed a hard X-ray spectral component at E ≥ 10 keV, in addition to luminous and highly variable soft X-rays, with properties unprecedented among astronomical transients. An abrupt change in the X-ray decay rate and variability appears to accompany the change in optical spectral properties. AT 2018cow showed bright radio emission consistent with the interaction of a blastwave with v sh ∼ 0.1 c with a dense environment (Ṁ ∼ 10 −3 − 10 −4 M yr −1 for v w = 1000 km s −1 ). While these properties exclude 56 Ni-powered transients, our multi-wavelength analysis instead indicates that AT 2018cow harbored a "central engine", either a compact object (magnetar or black hole) or an embedded internal shock produced by interaction with a compact, dense circumstellar medium. The engine released ∼ 10 50 − 10 51.5 erg over ∼ 10 3 − 10 5 s and resides within lowmass fast-moving material with equatorial-polar density asymmetry (M ej,fast 0.3 M ). Successful SNe from low-mass H-rich stars (like electron-capture SNe) or failed explosions from blue supergiants satisfy these constraints. Intermediate-mass black-holes are disfavored by the large environmental density probed by the radio observations.

The spectra of BL Lac objects and Fanaroff-Riley I radio galaxies are commonly explained by the one-zone leptonic synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model. Spectral modeling of correlated multiwavelength data gives the comoving magnetic field strength, the bulk outflow Lorentz factor and the emission region size. Assuming the validity of the SSC model, the Hillas condition shows that only in rare cases can such sources accelerate protons to much above 10 19 eV, so 10 20 eV ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are likely to be heavy ions if powered by this type of radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN). Survival of nuclei is shown to be possible in TeV BL Lacs and misaligned counterparts with weak photohadronic emissions. Another signature of hadronic production is intergalactic UHECR-induced cascade emission, which is an alternative explanation of the TeV spectra of some extreme non-variable blazars such as 1ES 0229+200 or 1ES 1101-232. We study this kind of cascade signal, taking into account effects of the structured extragalactic magnetic fields in which the sources should be embedded. We demonstrate the importance of cosmic-ray deflections on the γ-ray flux, and show that required absolute cosmic-ray luminosities are larger than the average UHECR luminosity inferred from UHECR observations and can even be comparable to the Eddington luminosity of supermassive black holes. Future TeV γ-ray observations using the Cherenkov Telescope Array and the High Altitude Water Cherenkov detector array can test for UHECR acceleration by observing > 25 TeV photons from relatively low-redshift sources such as 1ES 0229+200, and TeV photons from more distant radio-loud AGN.

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In this paper, we have selected a sample of 64 teraelectronvolt blazars, with redshift, from those classified in the fourth Fermi Large Area Telescope source catalog a) . We have obtained the values of the relevant physical parameters by performing a log-parabolic fitting of the average-state multiwavelength spectral energy distributions. We estimate the range of the radiation zone parameters, such as the Doppler factor (D), the magnetic field strength (B), the radiative zone radius (R) and the peak Lorentz factor (γ p ) of nonthermal electrons. Here, we show that (1) there is a strong linear positive correlation between the intrinsic synchrotron peak frequency and the intrinsic inverse Compton scattering (ICs) peak frequency among different types of blazars; (2) if radio bands are excluded, the spectral index of each band is negatively correlated with the intrinsic peak frequency; (3) there is a strong linear negative correlation between the curvature at the peak and the intrinsic peak frequency of the synchrotron bump, and a weak positive correlation between the curvature at the peak and the intrinsic peak frequency of the ICs bump; (4) there is a strong linear positive correlation between the intrinsic ICs peak luminosity and intrinsic γ-ray luminosity and between the intrinsic ICs peak frequency and peak Lorentz factor;(5) there is a strong negative linear correlation between log B and log γ p ; and (6) there is no correlation between log R and log γ p .

We present radio, optical/NIR, and X-ray observations of the afterglow of the short-duration GRB 130603B, and uncover a break in the radio and optical bands at ≈ 0.5 d after the burst, best explained as a jet break with an inferred jet opening angle of ≈ 4 − 8 • . GRB 130603B is only the third short GRB with a radio afterglow detection to date, and the first time that a jet break is evident in the radio band. We model the temporal evolution of the spectral energy distribution to determine the burst explosion properties and find an isotropic-equivalent kinetic energy of ≈ (0.6 − 1.7) × 10 51 erg and a circumburst density of ≈ 5 × 10 −3 − 30 cm −3 . From the inferred opening angle of GRB 130603B, we calculate beaming-corrected energies of E γ ≈ (0.5 − 2) × 10 49 erg and E K ≈ (0.1 − 1.6) × 10 49 erg. Along with previous measurements and lower limits we find a median opening angle of ≈ 10 • . Using the all-sky observed rate of 10 Gpc −3 yr −1 , this implies a true short GRB rate of ≈ 20 yr −1 within 200 Mpc, the Advanced LIGO/VIRGO sensitivity range for neutron star binary mergers. Finally, we uncover evidence for significant excess emission in the X-ray afterglow of GRB 130603B at 1 d and conclude that the additional energy component could be due to fall-back accretion or spin-down energy from a magnetar formed following the merger.

We present the detection of persistent soft X-ray radiation withL 10-10 42 erg s -1 at the location of the extremely luminous, double-humped transient ASASSN-15lh as revealed by Chandra and Swift. We interpret this finding in the context of observations from our multiwavelength campaign, which revealed the presence of weak narrow nebular emission features from the host-galaxy nucleus and clear differences with respect to superluminous supernova optical spectra. Significant UV flux variability on short timescales detected at the time of the rebrightening disfavors the shock interaction scenario as the source of energy powering the long-lived UV emission, while deep radio limits exclude the presence of relativistic jets propagating into a low-density environment. We propose a model where the extreme luminosity and double-peaked temporal structure of ASASSN-15lh is powered by a central source of ionizing radiation that produces a sudden change in the ejecta opacity at later times. As a result, UV radiation can more easily escape, producing the second bump in the light curve. We discuss different interpretations for the intrinsic nature of the ionizing source. We conclude that, if the X-ray source is physically associated with the optical-UV transient, then ASASSN-15lh most likely represents the tidal disruption of a main-sequence star by the most massive spinning black hole detected to date. In this case, ASASSN-15lh and similar events discovered in the future would constitute the most direct probes of very massive, dormant, spinning, supermassive black holes in galaxies. Future monitoring of the X-rays may allow us to distinguish between the supernova hypothesis and the hypothesis of a tidal disruption event.

The black hole MAXIJ1820+070 was discovered during its 2018 outburst and was extensively monitored across the electromagnetic spectrum. Following the detection of relativistic radio jets, we obtained four Chandra X-ray observations taken between 2018 November and 2019 June, along with radio observations conducted with the Very Large Array and MeerKAT arrays. We report the discovery of X-ray sources associated with the radio jets moving at relativistic velocities with a possible deceleration at late times. The broadband spectra of the jets are consistent with synchrotron radiation from particles accelerated up to very high energies (>10 TeV) by shocks produced by the jets interacting with the interstellar medium. The minimal internal energy estimated from the X-ray observations for the jets is ∼10 41 erg, significantly larger than the energy calculated from the radio flare alone, suggesting most of the energy is possibly not radiated at small scales but released through late-time interactions. Unified Astronomy Thesaurus concepts: X-ray binary stars (1811); Relativistic jets (1390); Accretion (14); Radio jets (1347); Galactic radio sources (571); Stellar mass black holes (1611)

We present the results of the first X-ray study of a sample of 16 young radio sources classified as Compact Symmetric Objects (CSOs). We observed six of them for the first time in X-rays using Chandra, re-observed four with the previous XMM-Newton or Beppo-SAX data, and included six other with the archival data. All the sources are nearby, z < 1 with the age of their radio structures (< 3000 years) derived from the hotspots advance velocity. Our results show heterogeneous nature of the CSOs indicating a complex environment associated with young radio sources. The sample covers a range in X-ray luminosity, L 2−10 keV ∼ 10 41 -10 45 erg s −1 , and intrinsic absorbing column density of N H 10 21 -10 22 cm −2 . In particular, we detected extended X-ray emission in 1718−649; a hard photon index of Γ 1 in 2021+614 and 1511+0518 consistent with either a Compton thick absorber or non-thermal emission from compact radio lobes, and in 0710+439 an ionized iron emission line at E rest = (6.62 ± 0.04) keV and EW ∼ 0.15−1.4 keV, and a decrease by an order of magnitude in the 2-10 keV flux since the 2008 XMM-Newton observation in 1607+26. We conclude that our pilot study of CSOs provides a variety of exceptional diagnostics and highlights the importance of deep X-ray observations of large samples of young sources. This is necessary in order to constrain theoretical models for the earliest stage of radio source evolution and study the interactions of young radio sources with the interstellar environment of their host galaxies.