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A Polarization Flare in 3C 273: A Clue to Jet Physics

Lara L. Cross·Beverley J. Wills·J. H. Hough·J. A. Bailey
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Abstract

We present UBVRIJHK polarization and flux density observations of the quasar 3C 273 obtained during a time of outburst over two weeks in 1988 February. We have modelled these data with two power law components, each with wavelength-independent position angle. These components are roughly perpendicular. The steeper-spectrum component has higher infrared polarized flux density, with the electric vector approximately transverse to the projected direction of the VLBI jet. The K-band polarized flux density and position angle, and possibly the spectral index of the two components, are correlated with a time lag of less than a day. We explain our results in terms of a shocked jet model with two nearly co-spatial components: a shock component with magnetic field approximately perpendicular to the jet and the other with magnetic field approximately parallel to the jet.

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Lara L. Cross, Beverley J. Wills, J. H. Hough, J. A. Bailey. 2000-10-11. A Polarization Flare in 3C 273: A Clue to Jet Physics. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0010216

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