Galaxies (Sep 2016)
The Connection between the Radio Jet and the γ-ray Emission in the Radio Galaxy 3C 120 and the Blazar CTA 102
- Carolina Casadio,
- José L. Gómez,
- Svetlana G. Jorstad,
- Alan P. Marscher,
- Paola Grandi,
- Valeri M. Larionov,
- Matthew L. Lister,
- Paul S. Smith,
- Mark A. Gurwell,
- Anne Lähteenmäki,
- Iván Agudo,
- Sol N. Molina,
- Vishal Bala,
- Manasvita Joshi,
- Brian Taylor,
- Karen E. Williamson,
- Yuri Y. Kovalev,
- Tuomas Savolainen,
- Alexander B. Pushkarev,
- Arkady A. Arkharov,
- Dmitry A. Blinov,
- George A. Borman,
- Andrea Di Paola,
- Tatiana S. Grishina,
- Vladimir A. Hagen-Thorn,
- Ryosuke Itoh,
- Evgenia N. Kopatskaya,
- Elena G. Larionova,
- Liudmila V. Larionova,
- Daria A. Morozova,
- Elizaveta Rastorgueva-Foi,
- Sergey G. Sergeev,
- Merja Tornikoski,
- Ivan S. Troitsky,
- Clemens Thum,
- Helmut Wiesemeyer
Affiliations
- Carolina Casadio
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
- José L. Gómez
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomía, s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain
- Svetlana G. Jorstad
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Alan P. Marscher
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Paola Grandi
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica-IASFBO, 40127 Bologna, Italy
- Valeri M. Larionov
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Matthew L. Lister
- Department of Physics, Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Paul S. Smith
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Mark A. Gurwell
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Anne Lähteenmäki
- Aalto University Metsähovi Radio Observatory, FI-02540 Kylmälä, Finland
- Iván Agudo
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomía, s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain
- Sol N. Molina
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomía, s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain
- Vishal Bala
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Manasvita Joshi
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Brian Taylor
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Karen E. Williamson
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Yuri Y. Kovalev
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
- Tuomas Savolainen
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
- Alexander B. Pushkarev
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
- Arkady A. Arkharov
- Pulkovo Observatory, 196140 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Dmitry A. Blinov
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
- George A. Borman
- Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, 98409 Nauchny, Crimea, Russia
- Andrea Di Paola
- INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, 00136 Roma, Italy
- Tatiana S. Grishina
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Vladimir A. Hagen-Thorn
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Ryosuke Itoh
- Department of Physical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima Prefecture 739-8511, Japan
- Evgenia N. Kopatskaya
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Elena G. Larionova
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Liudmila V. Larionova
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Daria A. Morozova
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Elizaveta Rastorgueva-Foi
- Aalto University Metsähovi Radio Observatory, FI-02540 Kylmälä, Finland
- Sergey G. Sergeev
- Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, 98409 Nauchny, Crimea, Russia
- Merja Tornikoski
- Aalto University Metsähovi Radio Observatory, FI-02540 Kylmälä, Finland
- Ivan S. Troitsky
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Clemens Thum
- Instituto de Radio Astronomía Milimétrica, 18012 Granada, Spain
- Helmut Wiesemeyer
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies4040034
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 4,
no. 4
p. 34
Abstract
We present multi-wavelength studies of the radio galaxy 3C 120 and the blazar CTA 102 during unprecedented γ-ray flares for both sources. In both studies the analysis of γ-ray data has been compared with a series of 43 GHz VLBA images from the VLBA-BU-BLAZAR program, providing the necessary spatial resolution to probe the parsec scale jet evolution during the high energy events. To extend the radio dataset for 3C 120 we also used 15 GHz VLBA data from the MOJAVE sample. These two objects which represent very different classes of AGN, have similar properties during the γ-ray events. The γ-ray flares are associated with the passage of a new superluminal component through the mm VLBI core, but not all ejections of new components lead to γ-ray events. In both sources γ-ray events occurred only when the new components are moving in a direction closer to our line of sight. We locate the γ-ray dissipation zone a short distance from the radio core but outside of the broad line region, suggesting synchrotron self-Compton scattering as the probable mechanism for the γ-ray production.
Keywords
