The flat-spectrum radio quasar CTA 102 experienced a prolonged state of enhanced activity across the entire observed electromagnetic spectrum during 2016–2017, most pronounced during a major outburst between 2016 December and 2017 May. Fermi-LAT observed a flux of (2.2 ± 0.2) × 10−5 photons cm−2 s−1 at energies above 100 MeV on 2017 April 19 during a single orbit. We report here the detection of significant (4.7σ) flux variations down to timescales of ∼5 minutes during this orbit. The measured variability timescale is much shorter than the light-travel time across the central black hole (∼70 minutes) indicating a very compact emission region within the jet, similar to that seen in IC 310, Mrk 501, or PKS 1222+21 from MAGIC observations. This short-timescale variability is unexpected since the γ-ray spectrum shows no sign of attenuation due to pair creation in interactions with photons from the broad emission line region, and therefore must be assumed to originate far from the black hole. The observed fast variability could either indicate the dissipation of magnetic islands or protons in a collimated beam from the base of the jet encountering the turbulent plasma at the end of the magnetic nozzle.
Aims. The nearby TeV blazar 1ES 1959+650 (z=0.047) was reported to be in flaring state during June -July 2016 by Fermi-LAT, FACT, MAGIC and VERITAS collaborations. We studied the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in different states of the flare during MJD 57530 -57589 using simultaneous multiwaveband data to understand the possible broadband emission scenario during the flare. Methods. The UV/optical and X-ray data from UVOT and XRT respectively on board Swift and high energy γ-ray data from Fermi-LAT are used to generate multiwaveband lightcurves as well as to obtain high flux states and quiescent state SEDs. The correlation and lag between different energy bands is quantified using discrete correlation function. The synchrotron self Compton (SSC) model was used to reproduce the observed SEDs during flaring and quiescent states of the source. Results. A decent correlation is seen between X-ray and high energy γ-ray fluxes. The spectral hardening with increase in the flux is seen in X-ray band. The powerlaw index vs flux plot in γ-ray band indicates the different emission regions for 0.1 -3 GeV and 3-300 GeV energy photons. Two zone SSC model satisfactorily fits the observed broadband SEDs. The inner zone is mainly responsible for producing synchrotron peak and high energy γ-ray part of the SED in all states. The second zone is mainly required to produce less variable optical/UV and low energy γ-ray emission. Conclusions. Conventional single zone SSC model does not satisfactorily explain broadband emission during observation period considered. There is an indication of two emission zones in the jet which are responsible for producing broadband emission from optical to high energy γ-rays.
We performed a long-term optical (B, V, R bands), infra-red (J and K bands) and radio band (15, 22, 37 GHz band) study on the flat spectrum radio quasar, 3C 454.3, using the data collected over a period of more than 8 years (MJD 54500-57500). The temporal variability, spectral properties and inter-waveband correlations were studied by dividing the available data into smaller segments with more regular sampling. This helped us constrain the size and the relative locations of the emission regions for different wavebands. Spectral analysis of the source revealed the interplay between the accretion
The regular monitoring of flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in γ-rays by Fermi-LAT since past 12 years indicated six sources who exhibited extreme γ-ray outbursts crossing daily flux of 10−5 photons cm−2 s−1. We obtained nearly-simultaneous multi-wavelength data of these sources in radio to γ-ray waveband from OVRO, Steward Observatory, SMARTS, Swift-UVOT, Swift-XRT and Fermi-LAT. The time-averaged broadband Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) of these sources in quiescent states were studied to get an idea about the underlying baseline radiation processes. We modeled the SEDs using one-zone leptonic synchrotron and inverse-Compton emission scenario from broken power-law electron energy distribution inside a spherical plasma blob, relativistically moving down a conical jet. The model takes into account inverse-Compton scattering of externally and locally originated seed photons in the jet. The big blue bumps visible in quiescent state SEDs helped to estimate the accretion disk luminosities and central black hole masses. We found a correlation between the magnetic field inside the emission region and the ratio of emission region distance to disk luminosity, which implies that the magnetic field decreases with an increase in emission region distance and decrease in disk luminosity, suggesting a disk-jet connection. The high-energy index of the electron distribution was also found to be correlated with observed γ-ray luminosity as γ-rays are produced by high energy particles. In most cases, kinetic power carried by electrons can account for jet radiation power as jets become radiatively inefficient during quiescent states.
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