The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2024)
Evidence of Jet Activity from the Secondary Black Hole in the OJ 287 Binary System
- Mauri J. Valtonen,
- Staszek Zola,
- Alok C. Gupta,
- Shubham Kishore,
- Achamveedu Gopakumar,
- Svetlana G. Jorstad,
- Paul J. Wiita,
- Minfeng Gu,
- Kari Nilsson,
- Alan P. Marscher,
- Zhongli Zhang,
- Rene Hudec,
- Katsura Matsumoto,
- Marek Drozdz,
- Waldemar Ogloza,
- Andrei V. Berdyugin,
- Daniel E. Reichart,
- Markus Mugrauer,
- Lankeswar Dey,
- Tapio Pursimo,
- Harry J. Lehto,
- Stefano Ciprini,
- T. Nakaoka,
- M. Uemura,
- Ryo Imazawa,
- Michal Zejmo,
- Vladimir V. Kouprianov,
- James W. Davidson Jr.,
- Alberto Sadun,
- Jan Štrobl,
- Z. R. Weaver,
- Martin Jelínek
Affiliations
- Mauri J. Valtonen
- ORCiD
- FINCA, University of Turku , FI-20014 Turku, Finland; Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku , FI-20014 Turku, Finland
- Staszek Zola
- ORCiD
- Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University , ul. Orla 171, 30-244 Krakow, Poland ; [email protected]
- Alok C. Gupta
- ORCiD
- Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) , Manora Peak, Nainital–263001, India; Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People's Republic of China
- Shubham Kishore
- ORCiD
- Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) , Manora Peak, Nainital–263001, India
- Achamveedu Gopakumar
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research , Mumbai 400005, India
- Svetlana G. Jorstad
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University , 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Paul J. Wiita
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The College of New Jersey , 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718, USA
- Minfeng Gu
- ORCiD
- Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People's Republic of China
- Kari Nilsson
- ORCiD
- FINCA, University of Turku , FI-20014 Turku, Finland
- Alan P. Marscher
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University , 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Zhongli Zhang
- ORCiD
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shanghai 200030, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
- Rene Hudec
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University , 166 36 Prague, Czech Republic ; [email protected]; Astronomical Institute (ASU CAS) , 251 65 Ondřejov, Czech Republic
- Katsura Matsumoto
- ORCiD
- Astronomical Institute, Osaka Kyoiku University , 4-698 Asahigaoka, Kashiwara, Osaka 582-8582, Japan ; [email protected]
- Marek Drozdz
- Mt. Suhora Astronomical Observatory, University of the National Education Commission , ul.Podchorazych 2, 30-084 Krakow, Poland
- Waldemar Ogloza
- Mt. Suhora Astronomical Observatory, University of the National Education Commission , ul.Podchorazych 2, 30-084 Krakow, Poland
- Andrei V. Berdyugin
- ORCiD
- Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku , FI-20014 Turku, Finland
- Daniel E. Reichart
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA ; [email protected], [email protected]
- Markus Mugrauer
- ORCiD
- Astrophysical Institute and University Observatory , Schillergässchen 2, D-07745 Jena, Germany ; [email protected]
- Lankeswar Dey
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University , P.O. Box 135, Willey Street, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
- Tapio Pursimo
- ORCiD
- Nordic Optical Telescope , Apartado 474, E-38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma, Spain ; [email protected]
- Harry J. Lehto
- Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku , FI-20014 Turku, Finland
- Stefano Ciprini
- ORCiD
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare , Sezione di Roma “Tor Vergata”, I-00133 Roma, Italy; Space Science Data Center—Agenzia Spaziale Italiana , Via del Politecnico, snc, I-00133, Roma, Italy ; [email protected]
- T. Nakaoka
- Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University , 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan
- M. Uemura
- ORCiD
- Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University , 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan
- Ryo Imazawa
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University , 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan
- Michal Zejmo
- ORCiD
- Kepler Institute of Astronomy, University of Zielona Gora , Lubuska 2, 65-265 Zielona Gora, Poland ; [email protected]
- Vladimir V. Kouprianov
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA ; [email protected], [email protected]
- James W. Davidson Jr.
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia , 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA ; [email protected]
- Alberto Sadun
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Colorado , Denver, CO 80217, USA ; [email protected]
- Jan Štrobl
- Astronomical Institute (ASU CAS) , 251 65 Ondřejov, Czech Republic
- Z. R. Weaver
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University , 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Martin Jelínek
- Astronomical Institute (ASU CAS) , 251 65 Ondřejov, Czech Republic
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad4d9b
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 968,
no. 2
p. L17
Abstract
We report the study of a huge optical intraday flare on 2021 November 12 at 2 a.m. UT in the blazar OJ 287. In the binary black hole model, it is associated with an impact of the secondary black hole on the accretion disk of the primary. Our multifrequency observing campaign was set up to search for such a signature of the impact based on a prediction made 8 yr earlier. The first I -band results of the flare have already been reported by Kishore et al. (2024). Here we combine these data with our monitoring in the R -band. There is a big change in the R – I spectral index by 1.0 ± 0.1 between the normal background and the flare, suggesting a new component of radiation. The polarization variation during the rise of the flare suggests the same. The limits on the source size place it most reasonably in the jet of the secondary BH. We then ask why we have not seen this phenomenon before. We show that OJ 287 was never before observed with sufficient sensitivity on the night when the flare should have happened according to the binary model. We also study the probability that this flare is just an oversized example of intraday variability using the Krakow data set of intense monitoring between 2015 and 2023. We find that the occurrence of a flare of this size and rapidity is unlikely. In machine-readable Tables 1 and 2, we give the full orbit-linked historical light curve of OJ 287 as well as the dense monitoring sample of Krakow.
Keywords
