Distinguishing radiation mechanisms and particle populations in blazar jets through long-term multiband monitoring with RINGO3 and Fermi - UTU Research Portal

A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Distinguishing radiation mechanisms and particle populations in blazar jets through long-term multiband monitoring with RINGO3 and Fermi

Authors: McCall, Callum; Jermak, Helen; Steele, Iain A.; Agudo, Ivan; Barres de Almeida, Ulisses; Hovatta, Talvikki; Lamb, Gavin P.; Lindfors, Elina; Mundell, Carole

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Publishing place: OXFORD

Publication year: 2024

Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Journal name in source: MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

Journal acronym: MON NOT R ASTRON SOC

Volume: 532

Issue: 2

First page : 2788

Last page: 2819

Number of pages: 32

ISSN: 0035-8711

eISSN: 1365-2966

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae1693

Web address : https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/532/2/2788/7710751

Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/457356711

Preprint address: https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.12835

Abstract

We present the results of seven years of multicolour photometric monitoring of a sample of 31 γ-ray bright blazars using the RINGO3 polarimeter on the Liverpool Telescope from 2013-2020. We explore the relationships between simultaneous observations of flux in three optical wavebands along with Fermiγ-ray data in order to explore the radiation mechanisms and particle populations in blazar jets. We find significant correlations between optical and γ-ray flux with no detectable time lag, suggesting leptonic emission processes in the jets of these sources. Furthermore, we find the spectral behaviour against optical and γ-ray flux for many sources is best fit logarithmically. This is suggestive of a transition between bluer-/redder-when-brighter into stable-when-brighter behaviour during high activity states; a behaviour that might be missed in poorly sampled data, resulting in apparent linear relationships.

Downloadable publication

This is an electronic reprint of the original article.
This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Please cite the original version.

stae1693.pdf

Funding information in the publication:
IA acknowledges financial support from the grant CEX2021-001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC and from MICIN grants PID2019-107847RB-C44andPID2022-139117NB-C44. UBA acknowledges the receipt of a FAPERJ State Scientist Fellowship number E-26/200.532/2023 and a CNPq Productivity Fellowship number 309053/2022-6 TH was supported by the Research Council of Finland projects 317383, 320085, 322535, and 345899. GPL is supported by Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (grant numbers DHF-R1-221175 and DHFERE-221005).