A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Mid-infrared variability of γ-ray emitting blazars




AuthorsAyesha Anjum, C. S. Stalin, Suvendu Rakshit, Shivappa B. Gudennavar, Alok Durgapal

Publication year2020

JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Journal acronymMNRAS

Article number764A

Volume494

Issue1

First page 764

Last page774

Number of pages11

ISSN0035-8711

eISSN1365-2966

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa771

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/47629872


Abstract

Using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, we studied the mid-infrared (mid-IR) 3.4 μm (W1-band) and 4.6 μm (W2-band) flux variability of γ-ray emitting blazars. Our sample consists of 460 flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and 575 BL Lacertae (BL Lac) objects. On intraday time-scales, the median amplitude of variability (σm) for FSRQs is 0.04-0.02+0.03 and 0.05-0.02+0.03 mag in W1 and W2 bands. For BL Lacs, we found a median σm in W1(W2) bands of 0.04-0.02+0.01 (0.04-0.02+0.02 mag. On long time-scales, for FSRQs we found a median σm of 0.44-0.27+0.28 and 0.45-0.27+0.27 mag in W1 and W2 bands, while for BL Lacs, the median values are 0.21-0.12+0.18 and 0.22-0.11+0.18 mag in W1 and W2 bands. From statistical tests, we found FSRQs to show a larger σm than BL Lacs on both intraday and long time-scales. Among blazars, low synchrotron peaked sources showed larger σm compared to intermediate synchrotron peaked and high synchrotron peaked sources. The larger σm seen in FSRQs relative to BL Lacs on both intraday and long time-scales could be due to them having the most powerful relativistic jets and/or their mid-IR band coinciding with the peak of the electron energy distribution. BL Lacs have low power jets and the observational window to traces the emission from low-energy electrons, thereby leading to low σm. In both FSRQs and BL Lacs predominantly a bluer when brighter behaviour was observed. No correlation is found between σm and black hole mass.


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.





Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 14:00