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Table · dataset · 2016

{gamma}-ray to IR study of the blazar CTA 102

Listed in IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory)

We perform a multi-wavelength polarimetric study of the quasar CTA 102 during an extraordinarily bright {gamma}-ray outburst detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope in 2012 September-October when the source reached a flux of F_>100MeV_=5.2+/-0.4x10^-6^photons/cm2/s.

Description

At the same time, the source displayed an unprecedented optical and near-infrared (near-IR) outburst. We study the evolution of the parsec-scale jet with ultra-high angular resolution through a sequence of 80 total and polarized intensity Very Long Baseline Array images at 43GHz, covering the observing period from 2007 June to 2014 June.

We find that the {gamma}-ray outburst is coincident with flares at all the other frequencies and is related to the passage of a new superluminal knot through the radio core. The powerful {gamma}-ray emission is associated with a change in direction of the jet, which became oriented more closely to our line of sight ({theta}~1.2{deg}) during the ejection of the knot and the {gamma}-ray outburst. During the flare, the optical polarized emission displays intra-day variability and a clear clockwise rotation of electric vector position angles (EVPAs), which we associate with the path followed by the knot as it moves along helical magnetic field lines, although a random walk of the EVPA caused by a turbulent magnetic field cannot be ruled out.

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We locate the {gamma}-ray outburst a short distance downstream of the radio core, parsecs from the black hole. This suggests that synchrotron self-Compton scattering of NIR to ultraviolet photons is the probable mechanism for the {gamma}-ray production.

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Where it is published

Documentation and papers

Catalogue records · 2

Topics

Stated by source
Gamma-Ray · Infrared · Optical · Radio · Uv · X-Ray
Inferred from text
Astronomical sciences 69% · Image 65%
Provenance · 1 source records, 15 field assertions
SourceKeyLast seenRaw
IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory)ivo://cds.vizier/j/apj/813/5114 d agoJSON v1
FieldAssertionExtractorEvidence
access_levelsource · IVOA Registryconnector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0
concepts[field].anzsrc:group:5101enrichment · IVOA Registrytaxonomy-embedding@1.1.0title+keywords+description (69%)
concepts[field].local:field:astronomymapping · IVOA Registryconnector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0
concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:gamma-raysource · IVOA Registryconnector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0
concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:infraredsource · IVOA Registryconnector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0
concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:opticalsource · IVOA Registryconnector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0
concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:radiosource · IVOA Registryconnector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0
concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:uvsource · IVOA Registryconnector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0
concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:x-raysource · IVOA Registryconnector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0
concepts[modality].local:modality:imageenrichment · IVOA Registrykeyword-concept-rules@1.0.0title+description (65%)
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