Table · dataset · 2021
gamma-rays in Fermi blazars
Listed in IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory)
The gamma-ray emission in broad-line blazars is generally explained as inverse Compton (IC) radiation of relativistic electrons in the jet scattering optical-UV photons from the broad-line region (BLR), the so-called BLR external Compton (EC) scenario.
Description
We test this scenario on the Fermi gamma-ray spectra of 106 broad-line blazars detected with the highest significance or largest BLR, by looking for cut-off signatures at high energies compatible with {gamma}-{gamma} interactions with BLR photons.
We do not find evidence for the expected BLR absorption. For 2/3 of the sources, we can exclude any significant absorption ({tau}_max_<1), while for the remaining 1/3 the possible absorption is constrained to be 1.5-2 orders of magnitude lower than expected. This result holds also dividing the spectra in high- and low-flux states, and for powerful blazars with large BLR.
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Only 1 object out of 10 seems compatible with substantial attenuation ({tau}_max_>5). We conclude that for 9 out of 10 objects, the jet does not interact with BLR photons. Gamma-rays seem either produced outside the BLR most of the time, or the BLR is ~100 x larger than given by reverberation mapping.
This means that (i) EC on BLR photons is disfavoured as the main gamma-ray mechanism, versus IC on IR photons from the torus or synchrotron self-Compton; (ii) the Fermi gamma-ray spectrum is mostly intrinsic, determined by the interaction of the particle distribution with the seed-photon spectrum; and (iii) without suppression by the BLR, broad-line blazars can become copious emitters above 100GeV, as demonstrated by 3C 454.3.
We expect the CTA sky to be much richer of broad-line blazars than previously thought.
Links
Where it is published
- Reference page cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/477/4749 ↗
landing page · from IVOA Registry
Documentation and papers
- ADS 2018MNRAS.477.4749C ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018MNRAS.477.4749C ↗
publication · from IVOA Registry
Catalogue records · 2
- VOResource record dc.g-vo.org/oai.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=ivo_vor&identifier=ivo%3… ↗
metadata API · from IVOA Registry
- Registry record (GAVO) dc.g-vo.org/I/cds.vizier/j/mnras/477/4749 ↗
catalogue entry · from IVOA Registry
Topics
- Stated by source
- Gamma-Ray
- From keywords
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
Provenance · 1 source records, 8 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory) | ivo://cds.vizier/j/mnras/477/4749 | 12 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:astronomy | mapping · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:gamma-ray | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_description |
| license_text | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| publication_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_title |
| updated_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 |