We present observations of the C-band 1 10 − 1 11 (4.8 GHz) and Ku-band 2 11 − 2 12 (14.5 GHz) K-doublet lines of H 2 CO and the C-band 1 10 − 1 11 (4.6 GHz) line of H 2 13 CO toward a large sample of Galactic molecular clouds, through the Shanghai Tianma 65-m radio telescope (TMRT). Our sample with 112 sources includes strong H 2 CO sources from the TMRT molecular line survey at C-band and other known H 2 CO sources. All three lines are detected toward 38 objects (43 radial velocity components) yielding a detection rate of 34%. Complementary observations of their continuum emission at both C-and Ku-bands were performed. Combining spectral line parameters and continuum data, we calculate the column densities, the optical depths and the isotope ratio H 2 12 CO/H 2 13 CO for each source. To evaluate photon trapping caused by sometimes significant opacities in the main isotopologue's rotational mm-wave lines connecting our measured K-doublets, and to obtain 12 C/ 13 C abundance ratios, we used the RADEX non-LTE model accounting for radiative transfer effects. This implied the use of the new collision rates from Wiesenfeld & Faure (2013). Also implementing distance values from trigonometric parallax measurements for our sources, we obtain a linear fit of 12 C/ 13 C = (5.08±1.10)D GC + (11.86±6.60), with a correlation coefficient of 0.58. D GC refers to Galactocentric distances. Our 12 C/ 13 C ratios agree very well with the ones deduced from CN and C 18 O but are lower than those previously reported on the basis of H 2 CO, tending to suggest that the bulk of the H 2 CO in our sources was formed on dust grain mantles and not in the gas phase.

No abstract

Gigahertz-Peaked spectrum (GPS) sources are compact active galactic nuclei, presumably young precursors of bright radio sources. The study of GPS radio properties provides information about the features of synchrotron radiation in extragalactic sources. Also in applied research GPS sources are useful as compact stationary radio sources in the sky for astrometric purposes. This paper presents the results of a multifrequency GPS study based on quasi-simultaneous measurements with the RATAN-600 radio telescope during the 2006-2017. The catalog containing spectral flux densities measured at six frequencies (1.1, 2.3, 4.8, 7.7/8.2, 11.2, and 21.7 GHz) have been obtained. In addition, for the analysis of radio spectra, data from the following low-frequency surveys have been used: GLEAM (GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison widefield array survey) and TGSS (Tata institute for fundamental research GMRT Sky Survey) and high-frequency measurements from Planck survey. A total number of 164 GPS and candidates to GPS have been identified (17 of them are new discoveries), which makes up a small fraction of GPS in the initial sample of bright AGNs, about 2%. The physical properties and formation conditions of synchrotron radiation is found to be quite different in GPS of different AGN types. The deficit of distant GPS (z > 2) with low maximum frequencies (less than 1 GHz) is confirmed. The existing "size -peak frequency" anticorrelation is continuous. The continuum radio spectra are found to become statistically steeper with increasing redshift.

Aims. We present a new catalogue of the RATAN-600 multi-frequency measurements for BL Lac objects. The purpose of this catalogue is to compile the BL Lac multi-frequency data that is acquired with the RATAN-600 simultaneously at several frequencies. The BL Lac objects emit a strongly variable and polarized non-thermal radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio to γ rays and represent about 1% of known AGNs. They belong to the blazar population and differ from other blazars' featureless optical spectrum, which sometimes have absorption lines, or have weak and narrow emission lines. One of the most effective ways of studying the physics of BL Lacs is the use of simultaneous multi-frequency data. Methods. The multi-frequency broadband radio spectrum was obtained simultaneously with an accuracy of up to 1−2 min for four to six frequencies: 1.1, 2.3, 4.8, 7.7, 11.2, and 21.7 GHz. The catalogue is based on the RATAN-600 observations and on the data from: equatorial coordinate and redshift, R-band magnitude, synchrotron peak frequency, SED classes, and object type literature.Results. The present version of the catalogue contains RATAN-600 flux densities measurements over nine years (2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014), radio spectra at different epochs, and their parameters of the catalogue for more than 300 BL Lacs objects and candidates. The BL Lacs list is constantly updated with new observational data of RATAN-600.

We present the radio properties of optically selected quasars with z ≥ 3. The complete sample consists of 102 quasars with a flux density level S1.4 ≥ 100 mJy in a declination range −35° ≤ Dec. ≤ +49°. The observations were obtained in 2017–2020 using the radio telescope RATAN-600. We measured flux densities at six frequencies 1.2, 2.3, 4.7, 8.2, 11.2, and 22 GHz quasi-simultaneously with uncertainties of 9–31 per cent. The detection rate is 100, 89, and 46 per cent at 4.7, 11.2, and 22 GHz, respectively. We have analysed the averaged radio spectra of the quasars based on the RATAN and literature data. We classify 46 per cent of radio spectra as peaked-spectrum, 24 per cent as flat, and none as ultra-steep spectra (α ≤ −1.1). The multifrequency data reveal that a peaked spectral shape (PS) is a common feature for bright high-redshift quasars. This indicates the dominance of bright compact core emission and the insignificant contribution of extended optically thin kpc-scale components in observed radio spectra. Using these new radio data, the radio loudness log  R was estimated for 71 objects with a median value of 3.5, showing that the majority of the quasars are highly radio-loud with log  R > 2.5. We have not found any significant correlation between z and α. Several new megahertz- peaked spectrum (MPS) and gigahertz- peaked spectrum (GPS) candidates are suggested. Further studies of their variability and additional low-frequency observations are needed to classify them precisely.

We present a multiwavelength study of the flat-spectrum radio quasar CTA 102 during 2013–2017. We use radio-to-optical data obtained by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope, 15 GHz data from the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, 91 and 103 GHz data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, near-infrared data from the Rapid Eye Monitor telescope, as well as data from the Swift (optical-UV and X-rays) and Fermi (γ-rays) satellites to study flux and spectral variability and the correlation between flux changes at different wavelengths. Unprecedented γ-ray flaring activity was observed during 2016 November–2017 February, with four major outbursts. A peak flux of (2158 ± 63) × 10−8 ph cm−2 s−1, corresponding to a luminosity of (2.2 ± 0.1) × 1050 erg s−1, was reached on 2016 December 28. These four γ-ray outbursts have corresponding events in the near-infrared, optical, and UV bands, with the peaks observed at the same time. A general agreement between X-ray and γ-ray activity is found. The γ-ray flux variations show a general, strong correlation with the optical ones with no time lag between the two bands and a comparable variability amplitude. This γ-ray/optical relationship is in agreement with the geometrical model that has successfully explained the low-energy flux and spectral behaviour, suggesting that the long-term flux variations are mainly due to changes in the Doppler factor produced by variations of the viewing angle of the emitting regions. The difference in behaviour between radio and higher energy emission would be ascribed to different viewing angles of the jet regions producing their emission.

We study the correlation between gamma-ray and radio band radiation for 123 blazars, using the Fermi-LAT first source catalog (1FGL) and the RATAN-600 data obtained at the same period of time (within a few months). We found an apparent positive correlation for BL Lac and flat-spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) sources from our sample through testing the value of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The BL Lac objects show higher values of the correlation coefficient than FSRQs at all frequencies, except 21.7 GHz, and at all bands, except 10 − 100 GeV, typically at high confidence level (> 99 %). At higher gammaray energies the correlation weakens and even becomes negative for BL Lacs and FSRQs. For BL Lac blazars, the correlation of the fluxes appeared to be more sensitive to the considered gamma-ray energy band, than to the frequency, while for FSRQ sources the correlation changed notably both with the considered radio frequency and gamma-ray energy band. We used a data randomization method to quantify the significance of the computed correlation coefficients. We find that the statistical significance of the correlations we obtained between the flux densities at all frequencies and the photon flux in all gamma-ray bands below 3 GeV is high for BL Lacs (chance probability ∼ 10 −3 − 10 −7 ). The correlation coefficient is high and significant for the 0.1 − 0.3 GeV band and low and insignificant for the 10 − 100 GeV band for both types of blazars for all considered frequencies.

We study the broadband emission of Mrk 501 using multiwavelength observations from 2017 to 2020 performed with a multitude of instruments, involving, among others, MAGIC, Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT), NuSTAR, Swift, GASP-WEBT, and the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. Mrk 501 showed an extremely low broadband activity, which may help to unravel its baseline emission. Nonetheless, significant flux variations are detected at all wave bands, with the highest occurring at X-rays and very-high-energy (VHE) γ-rays. A significant correlation (>3σ) between X-rays and VHE γ-rays is measured, supporting leptonic scenarios to explain the variable parts of the emission, also during low activity. This is further supported when we extend our data from 2008 to 2020, and identify, for the first time, significant correlations between the Swift X-Ray Telescope and Fermi-LAT. We additionally find correlations between high-energy γ-rays and radio, with the radio lagging by more than 100 days, placing the γ-ray emission zone upstream of the radio-bright regions in the jet. Furthermore, Mrk 501 showed a historically low activity in X-rays and VHE γ-rays from mid-2017 to mid-2019 with a stable VHE flux (>0.2 TeV) of 5% the emission of the Crab Nebula. The broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of this 2 yr long low state, the potential baseline emission of Mrk 501, can be characterized with one-zone leptonic models, and with (lepto)-hadronic models fulfilling neutrino flux constraints from IceCube. We explore the time evolution of the SED toward the low state, revealing that the stable baseline emission may be ascribed to a standing shock, and the variable emission to an additional expanding or traveling shock.