arXiv subjects

J. H. Fan

Publications and source records attributed to J. H. Fan.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Calibration of the Air Shower Energy Scale of the Water and Air Cherenkov Techniques in the LHAASO experiment

The Wide Field-of-View Cherenkov Telescope Array (WFCTA) and the Water Cherenkov Detector Arrays (WCDA) of LHAASO are designed to work in combination for measuring the energy spectra of various cosmic ray species over a very wide energy range from a few TeV to 10 PeV. The energy calibration of WCDA can be achieved with a proven technique of measuring the westward shift of the Moon shadow of galactic cosmic rays due to the geomagnetic field. This deflection angle $Δ$ is inversely proportional to the energy of the cosmic rays. The precise measurements of the shifts by WCDA allows us to calibrate its energy scale for energies as high as 35 TeV. The energy scale measured by WCDA can be used to cross calibrate the energy reconstructed by WFCTA, which spans the whole energy range up to 10 PeV. In this work, we will demonstrate the feasibility of the method using the data collected from April 2019 to January 2020 by the WFCTA array and WCDA-1 detector, the first of the three water Cherenkov ponds, already commissioned at LHAASO site.

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arXiv2020

The observation of the Crab Nebula with LHAASO-KM2A for the performance study

As a sub-array of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), KM2A is mainly designed to cover a large fraction of the northern sky to hunt for gamma-ray sources at energies above 10 TeV. Even though the detector construction is still underway, a half of the KM2A array has been operating stably since the end of 2019. In this paper, we present the pipeline of KM2A data analysis and the first observation on the Crab Nebula, a standard candle in very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. We detect gamma-ray signals from the Crab Nebula in both energy ranges of 10$-$100 TeV and $>$100 TeV with high significance, by analyzing the KM2A data of 136 live days between December 2019 and May 2020. With the observations, we test the detector performance including angular resolution, pointing accuracy and cosmic ray background rejection power. The energy spectrum of the Crab Nebula in the energy range 10-250 TeV fits well with a single power-law function dN/dE =(1.13$\pm$0.05$_{stat}$$\pm$0.08$_{sys}$)$\times$10$^{-14}$$\cdot$(E/20TeV)$^{-3.09\pm0.06_{stat}\pm0.02_{sys}}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ TeV$^{-1}$. It is consistent with previous measurements by other experiments. This opens a new window of gamma-ray astronomy above 0.1 PeV through which ultrahigh-energy gamma-ray new phenomena, such as cosmic PeVatrons, might be discovered.

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arXiv2019

A correlation between [O III] line property and X-ray spectral complexity in narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies?

We present a detailed study of 11 narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) from the Six-degree Field Galaxy Survey (6dFGS) that both have optical and X-ray spectroscopic observations. There are five complex NLS1s (C-NLS1s) and six simple NLS1s (S-NLS1s). We propose a possible correlation between [O III] line asymmetry and X-ray complexity. The outflow or wind from the inner accretion disk is commonly present in NLS1s and mostly directed along the system axis. In C-NLS1s only weak wind effects are measured, the X-ray spectral complexity might be caused by the presence of ionized material in the wind. On the contrary, the wind in S-NLS1s is fast, the ionized material could be swept by such a strong wind, thus the complex feature is missing which results in a simple X-ray spectrum. Furthermore, this outflow scenario seems to be an inclination effect. Since the speed of the wind is higher in a small inclination while lower in a large inclination, S-NLS1s might be sources viewed at small angles while C-NLS1s might be sources viewed at large angles.

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arXiv2018

A catalog of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies in the southern hemisphere

We present a new accurate sample of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) in the southern hemisphere from the Six-degree Field Galaxy Survey (6dFGS). Based on the optical spectral features, 167 sources were classified as NLS1s. We derived flux-calibrated spectra in the sample for the first time. Strong luminosity correlations between the continuum and the emission lines were found. We estimated their central black hole masses and Eddington ratios, which are lying in a typical range of NLS1s. In the sample, 23 NLS1s were detected at radio frequencies and 12 of them are radio-loud. We publish the X-ray data analysis of a campaign of observations carried out by the Swift X-ray Telescope.

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arXiv2018

Probing narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies in the southern hemisphere

We present a new accurate catalog of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) in the southern hemisphere from the Six-degree Field Galaxy Survey (6dFGS) final data release, which is currently the most extensive spectroscopic survey available in the southern sky whose database has not yet been systematically explored. We classified 167 sources as NLS1s based on their optical spectral properties. We derived flux-calibrated spectra for the first time that the 6dFGS indeed does not provide. By analyzing these spectra, we obtained strong correlations between the monochromatic luminosity at 5100 A and the luminosity of Hbeta and [O III]5007 lines. The estimated central black hole mass and Eddington ratio have an average value of 8.6 x 10^6 M_Sun and 0.96 L_Edd respectively, which is a typical value for NLS1s. In the sample, 23 (13.8%) NLS1s were detected at radio frequencies, and 12 (7.0%) of them are radio-loud. Our results confirmed that radio-loud sources tend to have a higher redshift, more massive black hole, and higher radio and optical luminosity than radio-quiet sources.

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arXiv2018

Spectral Energy Distributions for TeV Blazars

In this work, we collected a sample of 69 TeV blazars from TeVCat, obtained their multi-wavelength observations, and fitted their spectral energy distributions by using the second degree polynomial function. The structure parameters of the synchrotron bumps for 68 blazars and those of the inverse-Compton bumps for 56 blzars are obtained. Then, we adopted statistical analysis to the parameters (curvature, peak frequency, peak luminosity, bolometric luminosity, and X/$γ$-ray spectral indexes). From our analysis and discussions, we can get following conclusions: 1. There is a clear positive correlation between the synchrotron peak frequency, $\log ν_p^s$, and the inverse-Compton peak frequency $\log ν_p^{IC}$, and that between the synchrotron peak luminosity, $\log ν_p^s L_p^s$, and the inverse-Compton peak luminosity, $\log ν_p^{IC}L_p^{IC}$. 2. The correlation between the peak frequency and the curvature of synchrotron bump is clearly different from that of the inverse-Compton bump, which further indicates that there are different emission mechanisms between them. 3. There is a correlation between $\log ν_p^{IC}$ and $γ$-ray spectral index, $α_γ$, for the TeV blazars: $\log ν^{IC}_p = -(4.59 \pm 0.30) α_γ+ (32.67 \pm 0.59)$, which is consistent with previous work of Abdo et al.(2010). 4. An "L-shape" relation is found between $\log ν^s_p$ and $α_X$ for both TeV blazars and Fermi blazars. A significant correlation between $\log ν^s_p$ and X-ray photon index ($α_X$) is found for the TeV blazars with high synchrotron peak frequency: $\log ν^{s}_{p} = -(3.20 \pm 0.34) α_X + (24.33 \pm 0.79)$, while the correlation is positive for low synchrotron peaked TeV sources. 5. In the $α_X-α_γ$ diagram, there is also an "L-shape", the anti-correlation is consistent with the available results in the literature, (...)

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arXiv2017

Multi-wavelength temporal and spectral variability of the blazar OJ 287 during and after the December 2015 flare: a major accretion disc contribution

We present a multi-wavelength spectral and temporal analysis of the blazar OJ 287 during its recent activity between December 2015 -- May 2016, showing strong variability in the near-infrared (NIR) to X-ray energies with detection at $γ$-ray energies as well. Most of the optical flux variations exhibit strong changes in polarization angle and degree. All the inter-band time lags are consistent with simultaneous emissions. Interestingly, on days with excellent data coverage in the NIR--UV bands, the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) show signatures of bumps in the visible--UV bands, never seen before in this source. The optical bump can be explained as accretion-disk emission associated with the primary black hole of mass $\sim \rm 1.8 \times10^{10} M_{\odot}$ while the little bump feature in the optical-UV appears consistent with line emission. Further, the broadband SEDs extracted during the first flare and during a quiescent period during this span show very different $γ$-ray spectra compared to previously observed flare or quiescent spectra. The probable thermal bump in the visible seems to have been clearly present since May 2013, as found by examining all available NIR-optical observations, and favors the binary super-massive black hole model. The simultaneous multi-wavelength variability and relatively weak $γ$-ray emission that shows a shift in the SED peak is consistent with $γ$-ray emission originating from inverse Compton scattering of photons from the line emission that apparently contributes to the little blue bump.

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arXiv2017

The Intrinsic $γ$-ray Emissions of $Fermi$ Blazars

Beaming effect is important for the observational properties of blazars. In this work, we collect 91 $Fermi$ blazars with available radio Doppler factors. $γ$-ray Doppler factors are estimated and compared with radio Doppler factors for some sources. The intrinsic (de-beamed) $γ$-ray flux density ($f^{\rm in}_γ$), intrinsic $γ$-ray luminosity ($L^{\rm in}_γ$), and intrinsic synchrotron peak frequency ($ν_{\rm p}^{\rm in}$) are calculated. Then we study the correlations between $f^{\rm in}_γ$ and redshift and find that they follow the theoretical relation: $\log f = -2.0 \log z + {\rm const}$. When the subclasses are considered, we find that stationary jets are perhaps dominant in low synchrotron peaked blazars. 63 $Fermi$ blazars with both available short variability time scales ($ΔT$) and Doppler factors are also collected. We find that the intrinsic relationship between $L ^{\rm in}_γ$ and $ΔT^{\rm in}$ obeys the Elliot \& Shapiro and the Abramowicz \& Nobili relations. Strong positive correlation between $f_γ^{\rm in}$ and $ν_{\rm p}^{\rm in}$ is found, suggesting that synchrotron emissions are highly correlated with $γ$-ray emissions.

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arXiv2017

The Variability and Period Analysis for the BL Lac AO 0235+164

Variability is one of the extreme observational properties of BL Lacertae objects. AO 0235+164 is a well studied BL Lac through the whole electro-magnetic wavebands. In the present work, we show its optical R band photometric observations carried out during the period of Nov, 2006 to Dec. 2012 using the Ap6E CCD camera attached to the primary focus of the $\rm 70-cm$ meniscus telescope at Abastumani Observatory, Georgia. It shows a large variation of $ΔR$ = 4.88 mag (14.19 - 19.07 mag) and a short time scale of $ΔT_v$ = 73.5 min during our monitoring period. During the period of Dec. 2006 to Nov. 2009, we made radio observations of the source using the 25-m radio telescope at Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory. When a discrete correlation function (DCF) is adopted to the optical and radio observations, we found that the optical variation leads the radio variation by 23.2$\pm$12.9 days.

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arXiv2017

Intrinsic Correlations for Flaring Blazars Detected by Fermi

Blazars are an extreme subclass of active galactic nuclei. Their rapid variability, luminous brightness, superluminal motion, and high and variable polarization are probably due to a beaming effect. However, this beaming factor (or Doppler factor) is very difficult to measure. Currently, a good way to estimate it is to use the time scale of their radio flares. In this $Letter$, we use multiwavelength data and Doppler factors reported in the literatures for a sample of 86 flaring blazars detected by Fermi to compute their intrinsic multiwavelength data and intrinsic spectral energy distributions, and investigate the correlations among observed and intrinsic data. Quite interestingly, intrinsic data show a positive correlation between luminosity and peak frequency, in contrast with the behavior of observed data, and a tighter correlation between $γ$-ray luminosity and the lower energy ones. For flaring blazars detected by Fermi, we conclude that (1) Observed emissions are strongly beamed; (2) The anti-correlation between luminosity and peak frequency from the observed data is an apparent result, the correlation between intrinsic data being positive; and (3) Intrinsic $γ$-ray luminosity is strongly correlated with other intrinsic luminosities.

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arXiv2016

Multiband optical variability of the blazar OJ 287 during its outbursts in 2015 -- 2016

We present recent optical photometric observations of the blazar OJ 287 taken during September 2015 -- May 2016. Our intense observations of the blazar started in November 2015 and continued until May 2016 and included detection of the large optical outburst in December 2016 that was predicted using the binary black hole model for OJ 287. For our observing campaign, we used a total of 9 ground based optical telescopes of which one is in Japan, one is in India, three are in Bulgaria, one is in Serbia, one is in Georgia, and two are in the USA. These observations were carried out in 102 nights with a total of ~ 1000 image frames in BVRI bands, though the majority were in the R band. We detected a second comparably strong flare in March 2016. In addition, we investigated multi-band flux variations, colour variations, and spectral changes in the blazar on diverse timescales as they are useful in understanding the emission mechanisms. We briefly discuss the possible physical mechanisms most likely responsible for the observed flux, colour and spectral variability.

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arXiv2016

The Spectral Energy Distributions of Fermi Blazars

(Abridged) In this paper, multi-wavelength data are compiled for a sample of 1425 Fermi blazars to calculate their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). A parabolic function, $\log(νF_ν) = P_1(\logν- P_2)^2 + P_3,$ is used for SED fitting. Synchrotron peak frequency ($\log ν_p$), spectral curvature ($P_1$), peak flux ($ν_{\rm p}F_{\rm ν_p}$), and integrated flux ($νF_ν$) are successfully obtained for 1392 blazars (461 flat spectrum radio quasars-FSRQs, 620 BL Lacs-BLs and 311 blazars of uncertain type-BCUs, 999 sources have known redshifts). Monochromatic luminosity at radio 1.4 GHz, optical R band, X-ray at 1 keV and $γ$-ray at 1 GeV, peak luminosity, integrated luminosity and effective spectral indexes of radio to optical ($α_{\rm RO}$), and optical to X-ray ($α_{\rm OX}$) are calculated. The "Bayesian classification" is employed to log$ν_{\rm p}$ in the rest frame for 999 blazars with available redshift and the results show that 3 components are enough to fit the $\logν_{\rm p}$ distribution, there is no ultra high peaked subclass. Based on the 3 components, the subclasses of blazars using the acronyms of Abdo et al. (2010a) are classified, and some mutual correlations are also studied. Conclusions are finally drawn as follows: (1) SEDs are successfully obtained for 1392 blazars. The fitted peak frequencies are compared with common sources from samples available (Sambruna et al. 1996, Nieppola et al. 2006, 2008, Abdo et al. 2010a). (2) Blazars are classified as low synchrotron peak sources (LSPs) if $\logν_{\rm p}$(Hz) $\leq 14.0$, intermediate synchrotron peak sources (ISPs) if $14.0 < \logν_{\rm p}$(Hz) $\leq 15.3$, and high synchrotron peak sources (HSPs) if $\logν_{\rm p}$(Hz) $> 15.3$. (3) $γ$-ray emissions are strongly correlated with radio emissions. (...)

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arXiv2016

Comparison between TeV and non-TeV BL Lac Objects

BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs) is the dominant population of TeV emitting blazars. In this work, we investigate whether there is any special observational properties for TeV sources. To do so, we will compare the observational properties of TeV detected BL Lacs (TeV BLs) and non-TeV detected BL Lac objects (non-TeV BLs). From the 3rd $Fermi$/LAT catalog (3FGL), we can get 662 BL Lacs, out of which, 47 are TeV BLs and 615 are non-TeV BLs. Their multi-wavelength flux densities ($F_{\rm R}$, $F_{\rm O}$, $F_{\rm X}$, $F_γ$), photon spectral indexes ($α_{\rm X}^{\rm ph}$, $α_γ^{\rm ph}$), and effective spectral indexes ($α_{\rm RO}$ and $α_{\rm OX}$) are compiled from the available literatures. Then the luminosities ($\log\,νL_{\rm R}$, $\log\,νL_{\rm O}$, $\log\,νL_{\rm X}$, $\log\,νL_γ$) are calculated. From comparisons, we found that TeV BLs are different from low-synchrotron-peaked BLs (LSP) and intermediate-synchrotron-peaked BLs (ISP), but TeV BLs show similar properties as high-synchrotron-peaked BLs (HSP). Therefore, we concentrated on comparison between TeV HSP BLs and non-TeV HSP BLs. Analysis results suggest that TeV HSP BLs and non-TeV HSP BLs show some differences in their $α_{\rm RO}$ and $α_γ^{\rm ph}$, while their other properties are quite similar.

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arXiv2015

Multi-band optical variability of the Blazar S5 0716+714 in outburst state during 2014-2015

We analyzed the multi-band optical behaviour of the BL Lacertae object, S5 0716+714, during its outburst state from 2014 November - 2015 March. We took data on 23 nights at three observatories, one in India and two in Bulgaria, making quasi-simultaneous observations in B, V, R, and I bands. We measured multi-band optical fluxes, colour and spectral variations for this blazar on intraday and short timescales. The source was in a flaring state during the period analyzed and displayed intense variability in all wavelengths. R band magnitude of 11.6 was attained by the target on 18 Jan 2015, which is the brightest value ever recorded for S5 0716+714. The discrete correlation function method yielded good correlation between the bands with no measurable time lags, implying that radiation in these bands originate from the same region and by the same mechanism. We also used the structure function technique to look for characteristic timescales in the light curves. During the times of rapid variability, no evidence for the source to display spectral changes with magnitude was found on either of the timescales. The amplitude of variations tends to increase with increasing frequency with a maximum of $\sim$ 22% seen during flaring states in B band. A mild trend of larger variability amplitude as the source brightens was also found. We found the duty cycle of our source during the analyzed period to be $\sim$ 90%. We also investigated the optical spectral energy distribution of S5 0716+714 using B, V, R, and I data points for 21 nights. We briefly discuss physical mechanisms most likely responsible for its flux and spectral variations.

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arXiv2012

Beaming Effect in Fermi Blazars

The γ-ray loud blazars (flat spectrum radio quasars--FSRQs and BL Lacertae objects-BLs) are very bright in the γ-ray bands, which is perhaps associated with a beaming effect. Therefore, one can expect that the γ-ray luminosity is correlated with the beaming factor. In this paper, we investigated the relation between the radio Doppler factors and the gamma-ray luminosities. Our analysis suggests that the γ-ray luminosity be strongly correlated with the factor of δ_R for the whole sample, FSRQs, and BLs. When the effect of a common redshift is excluded, the correlation still exists for the FSRQs sub-sample suggesting that the γ-rays are strongly beamed. However, the partial correlation analysis does not show a correlation for the small BL Lac sample.

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arXiv2010

Duration distributions for different softness groups of gamma-ray bursts

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are divided into two classes according to their durations. We investigate if the softness of bursts plays a role in the conventional classification of the objects. We employ the BATSE (Burst and Transient Source Experiment) catalog and analyze the duration distributions of different groups of GRBs associated with distinct softness. Our analysis reveals that the conventional classification of GRBs with the duration of bursts is influenced by the softness of the objects. There exits a bimodality in the duration distribution of GRBs for each group of bursts and the time position of the dip in the bimodality histogram shifts with the softness parameter. Our findings suggest that the conventional classification scheme should be modified by separating the two well-known populations in different softness groups, which would be more reasonable than doing so with a single sample. According to the relation between the dip position and the softness parameter, we get an empirical function that can roughly set apart the short-hard and long-soft bursts: $SP = (0.100 \pm 0.028) T_{90}^{-(0.85 \pm 0.18)}$, where $SP$ is the softness parameter adopted in this paper.

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arXiv2009

On the nuclear obscuration of H2O maser galaxies

To shed light onto the circumnuclear environment of 22 GHz H2O maser galaxies, we have analyzed some of their multi-wavelength properties, including the far infrared luminosity (FIR), the luminosity of the [O III]\lambda5007 emission line, the nuclear X-ray luminosity, and the equivalent width of the neutral iron Ka emission line (EW (Ka)). Our statistical analysis includes a total of 85 sources, most of them harboring an active galactic nucleus (AGN). There are strong anti-correlations between EW (Ka) and two "optical thickness parameters", i.e. the ratios of the X-ray luminosity versus the presumably more isotropically radiated [O III] and far infrared (FIR) luminosities. Based on these anti-correlations, a set of quantitative criteria, EW (Ka) > 300eV, L_{2-10keV} < 2L_[O III] and L_{FIR} > 600L_{2-10keV} can be established for Compton-thick nuclear regions. 18 H2O maser galaxies belong to this category. There are no obvious correlations between the EW (Ka), the [O III] luminosity and the isotropic H2O maser luminosity. When comparing samples of Seyfert 2s with and without detected H2O maser lines, there seem to exist differences in EW (Ka) and the fraction of Compton-thick nuclei. This should be studied further. For AGN masers alone, there is no obvious correlation between FIR and H2O maser luminosities. However, including masers associated with star forming regions, a linear correlation is revealed. Overall, the extragalactic FIR-H2O data agree with the corresponding relation for Galactic maser sources, extrapolated by several orders of magnitude to higher luminosities.

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arXiv2009

The optical microvariability and spectral changes of the BL Lacertae object S5 0716+714

We monitored the BL Lac object S5 0716+714 in the optical band during October 2008, December 2008 and February 2009 with a best temporal resolution of about 5 minutes in the BVRI bands. Four fast flares were observed with amplitudes ranging from 0.3 to 0.75 mag. The source remained active during the whole monitoring campaign, showing microvariability in all days except for one. The overall variability amplitudes are delta B ~ 0.89 mag, delta V ~ 0.80 mag, delta R ~ 0.73 mag and delta I ~0.51 mag. Typical timescales of microvariability range from 2 to 8 hours. The overall V - R color index ranges from 0.37 to 0.59. Strong bluer- when-brighter chromatism was found on internight timescales. However, different spectral behavior was found on intranight timescales. A possible time lag of ~ 11 mins between B and I bands was found on one night. The shock-in-jet model and geometric effects can be applied to explain the source's intranight behavior.

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