arXiv subjects

M. Giroletti

Publications and source records attributed to M. Giroletti.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Blazars and Fast Radio Bursts with LSST

The aim of this white paper is to discuss the observing strategies for the LSST Wide-Fast-Deep that would improve the study of blazars (emission variability, census, environment) and Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). For blazars, these include the adoption of: i) a reference filter to allow reconstruction of a well-sampled light curve not affected by colour changes effects; ii) two snapshots/visit with different exposure times to avoid saturation during flaring states; iii) a rolling cadence to get better-sampled light curves at least in some time intervals. We also address the potential importance of Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations of blazar neutrino sources, and the advantages of a Minisurvey with a star trail cadence (see white paper by David Thomas et al.) for both the blazar science and the detection of possible very fast optical counterparts of FRBs.

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arXiv2018

AGILE, Fermi, Swift, and GASP-WEBT multi-wavelength observations of the high-redshift blazar 4C $+$71.07 in outburst

The flat-spectrum radio quasar 4C $+$71.07 is a high-redshift ($z=2.172$), $γ$-loud blazar whose optical emission is dominated by the thermal radiation from accretion disc. 4C $+$71.07 has been detected in outburst twice by the AGILE $γ$-ray satellite during the period end of October - mid November 2015, when it reached a $γ$-ray flux of the order of $F_{\rm E>100\,MeV} = (1.2 \pm 0.3)\times 10^{-6}$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ and $F_{\rm E>100\,MeV} = (3.1 \pm 0.6)\times 10^{-6}$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, respectively, allowing us to investigate the properties of the jet and of the emission region. We investigated its spectral energy distribution by means of almost simultaneous observations covering the cm, mm, near-infrared, optical, ultra-violet, X-ray and $γ$-ray energy bands obtained by the GASP-WEBT Consortium, the Swift and the AGILE and Fermi satellites. The spectral energy distribution of the second $γ$-ray flare (the one whose energy coverage is more dense) can be modelled by means of a one-zone leptonic model, yielding a total jet power of about $4\times10^{47}$ erg s$^{-1}$. During the most prominent $γ$-ray flaring period our model is consistent with a dissipation region within the broad-line region. Moreover, this class of high-redshift, large-mass black-hole flat-spectrum radio quasars might be good targets for future $γ$-ray satellites such as e-ASTROGAM.

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arXiv2018

Exploring the bulk of the BL Lac object population. II. Gamma-ray properties

AIMS. We are studying an unbiased sample of 42 nearby (z < 0.2) BL Lacertae objects with a multi-wavelength approach. The results of VLBI observations were presented in the first paper of this series. In this paper, we study the $γ$-ray properties of the sample. METHODS. We analyse data collected by the Fermi LAT during its first 8.5 years of operation in the energy range 0.1-300 GeV. RESULTS. We reveal 23 sources with a test statistic greater than 25 (corresponding to $\sim$ 4.6-$σ$) out of 42, with 3 sources not detected in the 3LAC catalogue, and fluxes between $3.5\times 10^{-10}$ and $7.4\times10^{-8}$ ph cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. The majority of the sources have hard spectra ($Γ\leq 2$), with only four having values in the range 2.1-2.4. The three newly detected sources have fluxes in the range between $0.54\times10^{-9}$ and $1.35\times10^{-9}$ ph cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, and photon index 1.7-1.9. Among the 23 LAT-detected sources, 19 are included in the 3FHL, with a spectrum that connects relatively smoothly from 0.1 GeV to 2 TeV. LAT-detected BL Lacs are more luminous on parsec scales with respect to non-LAT-detected sources and have larger core dominance according to the unified models. CONCLUSIONS. The LAT-detected BL Lacs seem to be composed of a bulk of "classical" sources dominated by Doppler boosting and characterised by compact and bright radio emission as well as hard $γ$-ray spectra. Moreover, we have identified a possible population of low-luminosity BL Lacs not detected by LAT, lacking a VLBI core, and with a small Doppler factor. Furthermore, three LAT-detected sources show non-classical properties for $γ$-ray emitting BL Lacs (no evidence of relativistic jet, low Doppler factor in radio images, relatively low core dominance) and three other sources, while showing radio emission on parsec scales, are not detected in $γ$ rays so far.

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arXiv2018

Early Science with the Large Millimeter Telescope: an energy-driven wind revealed by massive molecular and fast X-ray outflows in the Seyfert Galaxy IRAS 17020+4544

We report on the coexistence of powerful gas outflows observed in millimeter and X-ray data of the Radio-Loud Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy IRAS 17020+4544. Thanks to the large collecting power of the Large Millimeter Telescope, a prominent line arising from the 12CO(1-0) transition was revealed in recent observations of this source. The complex profile is composed by a narrow double-peak line and a broad wing. While the double-peak structure may be arising in a disk of molecular material, the broad wing is interpreted as the signature of a massive outflow of molecular gas with an approximate bulk velocity of -660 km/s. This molecular wind is likely associated to a multi-component X-ray Ultra-Fast Outflow with velocities reaching up to ~0.1c and column densities in the range 10^{21-23.9} cm^-2 that was reported in the source prior to the LMT observations. The momentum load estimated in the two gas phases indicates that within the observational uncertainties the outflow is consistent with being propagating through the galaxy and sweeping up the gas while conserving its energy. This scenario, which has been often postulated as a viable mechanism of how AGN feedback takes place, has so far been observed only in ULIRGs sources. IRAS 17020+4544 with bolometric and infrared luminosity respectively of 5X10^{44} erg/s and 1.05X10^{11} L_sun appears to be an example of AGN feedback in a NLSy1 Galaxy (a low power AGN). New proprietary multi-wavelength data recently obtained on this source will allow us to corroborate the proposed hypothesis.

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arXiv2018

Evidence of jet-clump interaction: a flip of the radio jet head of 3C~84

Radio jets in active galaxies have been expected to interact with circumnuclear environments in their early phase evolutions. By performing the multi-epoch monitoring observation with the KVN and VERA Array (KaVA) at 43~GHz, we investigate the kinematics of the notable newborn bright component C3 located at the tip of the recurrent jet of 3C~84. During 2015 August-September, we discover the flip of C3 and the amount of the flip is about 0.4~milli-arcsecond in angular scale, which corresponds to 0.14 parsec in physical scale. After the flip of C3, it wobbled at the same location for a few months and then it restarted to propagate towards the southern direction. The flux density of C3 coherently showed the monotonic increase during the observation period. The flip is in good agreement with hydrodynamical simulations of jets in clumpy ambient medium. We estimate the number density of the putative clump based on the momentum balance between the jet thrust and the ram pressure from the clump and it is about $10^{3-5}~{\rm cm^{-3}}$. We briefly discuss possible origins of the clump.

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arXiv2018

Radio/X-ray monitoring of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 382. High-energy view with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR

We present the analysis of five joint XMM-Newton/NuSTAR observations, 20 ks each and separated by 12 days, of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 382. The data were obtained as part of a campaign performed in September-October 2016 simultaneously with VLBA. The radio data and their relation with the X-ray ones will be discussed in a following paper. The source exhibits a moderate flux variability in the UV/X-ray bands, and a limited spectral variability especially in the soft X-ray band. In agreement with past observations, we find the presence of a warm absorber, an iron K$α$ line with no associated Compton reflection hump, and a variable soft excess well described by a thermal Comptonization component. The data are consistent with a "two-corona" scenario, in which the UV emission and soft excess are produced by a warm ($kT \simeq 0.6$ keV), optically thick ($τ\simeq 20$) corona consistent with being a slab fully covering a nearly passive accretion disc, while the hard X-ray emission is due to a hot corona intercepting roughly 10 per cent of the soft emission. These results are remarkably similar to those generally found in radio-quiet Seyferts, thus suggesting a common accretion mechanism.

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arXiv2018

Search for extended sources in the Galactic Plane using 6 years of Fermi-Large Area Telescope Pass 8 data above 10 GeV

The spatial extension of a gamma-ray source is an essential ingredient to determine its spectral properties as well as its potential multi-wavelength counterpart. The capability to spatially resolve gamma-ray sources is greatly improved by the newly delivered Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) Pass 8 event-level analysis which provides a greater acceptance and an improved point spread function, two crucial factors for the detection of extended sources. Here, we present a complete search for extended sources located within 7 degrees from the Galactic plane, using 6 years of LAT data above 10 GeV. We find 46 extended sources and provide their morphological and spectral characteristics. This constitutes the first catalog of hard LAT extended sources, named the Fermi Galactic Extended Source Catalog, which allows a thorough study of the properties of the Galactic plane in the sub-TeV domain.

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arXiv2018

A wide and collimated radio jet in 3C 84 on the scale of a few hundred gravitational radii

Understanding the launching, acceleration, and collimation of jets powered by active galactic nuclei remains an outstanding problem in relativistic astrophysics. This is partly because observational tests of jet formation models suffer from the limited angular resolution of ground-based very long baseline interferometry that has thus far been able to probe the transverse jet structure in the acceleration and collimation zone of only two sources. Here we report radio interferometric observations of 3C 84 (NGC 1275), the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster, made with an array including the orbiting radio telescope of the RadioAstron mission. The obtained image transversely resolves the edge-brightened jet in 3C 84 only 30 microarcseconds from the core, which is ten times closer to the central engine than what has been possible in previous ground-based observations, and it allows us to measure the jet collimation profile from ~ 100 to ~10000 gravitational radii from the black hole. The previously found, almost cylindrical jet profile on scales larger than a few thousand r_g is now seen to continue at least down to a few hundred r_g from the black hole and we find a broad jet with a transverse radius larger than about 250 r_g at only 350 r_g from the core. If the bright outer jet layer is launched by the black hole ergosphere, it has to rapidly expand laterally on scales smaller than 100 r_g. If this is not the case, then this jet sheath is likely launched from the accretion disk.

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arXiv2018

Radio transients investigation with VLBI

The technique of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) can provide accurate localization and unique physical information about radio transients. However, it is still underutilized due to the inherent difficulties of VLBI data analysis and practical difficulties of organizing observations on short notice. We present a brief overview of the currently available VLBI arrays and observing strategies used to study long- and short-duration radio transients.

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arXiv2018

FBQS J1644+2619: multiwavelength properties and its place in the class of gamma-ray emitting Narrow Line Seyfert 1s

A small fraction of Narrow Line Seyfert 1s (NLSy1s) are observed to be gamma-ray emitters. Understanding the properties of these sources is of interest since the majority of NLSy1s are very different from typical blazars. Here, we present a multi-frequency analysis of FBQS J1644+2619, one of the most recently discovered gamma-ray emitting NLSy1s. We analyse an ~80 ks XMM-Newton observation obtained in 2017, as well as quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength observations covering the radio - gamma-ray range. The spectral energy distribution of the source is similar to the other gamma-ray NLSy1s, confirming its blazar-like nature. The X-ray spectrum is characterised by a hard photon index (Gamma = 1.66) above 2 keV and a soft excess at lower energies.The hard photon index provides clear evidence that inverse Compton emission from the jet dominates the spectrum, while the soft excess can be explained by a contribution from the underlying Seyfert emission. This contribution can be fitted by reflection of emission from the base of the jet, as well as by Comptonisation in a warm, optically thick corona. We discuss our results in the context of the other gamma-ray NLSy1s and note that the majority of them have similar X-ray spectra, with properties intermediate between blazars and radio-quiet NLSy1s.

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arXiv2017

On the radio and GeV-TeV gamma-ray emission connection in Fermi blazars

The Fermi-LAT revealed that the census of the gamma-ray sky is dominated by blazars. Looking for a possible connection between radio and gamma-ray emission is a central issue for understanding the blazar physics, and various works were dedicated to this topic. However, while a strong and significant correlation was found between radio and gamma-ray emission in the 0.1-100 GeV energy range, the connection between radio and very high energy (VHE, E>0.1 TeV) emission is still elusive. The main reason is the lack of a homogeneous VHE sky coverage, due to the operational mode of the imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. With the present work we aim to quantify and assess the significance of the possible connection between high-resolution radio emission, on milliarcsecond scale, and GeV-TeV gamma-ray emission in blazars. For achieving our goal we extract two large and unbiased blazar samples from the 1FHL and 2FHL Fermi catalogs, above 10 GeV and 50 GeV, respectively. To investigate how the correlation evolves as the gamma-ray energy increases, we perform the same analysis by using the 0.1-300 GeV 3FGL gamma-ray energy fluxes. When we consider the 0.1-300 GeV gamma-ray energy range, we find a strong and significant correlation for all of the blazar sub-classes. Conversely, when we consider the gamma-ray emission above 10 GeV the correlation with the radio emission vanishes, with the exception of the blazar sub-class of high synchrotron peaked objects.

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arXiv2017

The MASIV Survey IV: relationship between intra-day scintillation and intrinsic variability of radio AGNs

We investigate the relationship between 5 GHz interstellar scintillation (ISS) and 15 GHz intrinsic variability of compact, radio-selected AGNs drawn from the Microarcsecond Scintillation-Induced Variability (MASIV) Survey and the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) blazar monitoring program. We discover that the strongest scintillators at 5 GHz (modulation index, $m_5 \geq 0.02$) all exhibit strong 15 GHz intrinsic variability ($m_{15} \geq 0.1$). This relationship can be attributed mainly to the mutual dependence of intrinsic variability and ISS amplitudes on radio core compactness at $\sim 100\, μ$as scales, and to a lesser extent, on their mutual dependences on source flux density, arcsec-scale core dominance and redshift. However, not all sources displaying strong intrinsic variations show high amplitude scintillation, since ISS is also strongly dependent on Galactic line-of-sight scattering properties. This observed relationship between intrinsic variability and ISS highlights the importance of optimizing the observing frequency, cadence, timespan and sky coverage of future radio variability surveys, such that these two effects can be better distinguished to study the underlying physics. For the full MASIV sample, we find that Fermi-detected gamma-ray loud sources exhibit significantly higher 5 GHz ISS amplitudes than gamma-ray quiet sources. This relationship is weaker than the known correlation between gamma-ray loudness and the 15 GHz variability amplitudes, most likely due to jet opacity effects.

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arXiv2017

Interplanetary Scintillation studies with the Murchison Wide-field Array II: Properties of sub-arcsecond compact sources at low radio frequencies

We report the first astrophysical application of the technique of wide-field Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). This powerful technique allows us to identify and measure sub-arcsecond compact components in low-frequency radio sources across large areas of sky without the need for long-baseline interferometry or ionospheric calibration. We present the results of a five-minute observation of a 30x30 sq. deg MWA field at 162 MHz with 0.5 second time resolution. Of the 2550 continuum sources detected in this field, 302 (12 per cent) show rapid fluctuations caused by IPS. We find that at least 32% of bright low-frequency radio sources contain a sub-arcsec compact component that contributes over 40% of the total flux density. Perhaps surprisingly, peaked-spectrum radio sources are the dominant population among the strongly-scintillating, low-frequency sources in our sample. While gamma-ray AGN are generally compact, flat-spectrum radio sources at higher frequencies, the 162 MHz properties of many of the Fermi blazars in our field are consistent with a compact component embedded within more extended low-frequency emission. The detection of a known pulsar in our field shows that the wide-field IPS technique is at the threshold of sensitivity needed to detect new pulsars using image plane analysis, and scaling the current MWA sensitivity to that expected for SKA-low implies that large IPS-based pulsar searches will be feasible with SKA. Calibration strategies for the SKA require a better knowledge of the space density of compact sources at low radio frequencies, which IPS observations can now provide.

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arXiv2017

Exploring the connection between radio and GeV-TeV gamma-ray emission in the 1FHL and 2FHL AGN samples

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) revealed that blazars, representing the most extreme radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) population, dominate the census of the gamma-ray sky, and a significant correlation was found between radio and gamma-ray emission in the 0.1-100 GeV energy range. However, the possible connection between radio and very high energy (VHE, E>0.1 TeV) emission still remains elusive, owing to the lack of a homogeneous coverage of the VHE sky. The main goal of this work is to quantify and assess the significance of a possible connection between the radio emission on parsec scale measured by the very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and GeV-TeV gamma-ray emission in blazars, which is a central issue for understanding the blazar physics and the emission processes. We investigate the radio VLBI and high energy gamma-ray emission by using two large and unbiased AGN samples extracted from the first and second Fermi-LAT catalogs of hard gamma-ray sources detected above 10 GeV (1FHL) and 50 GeV (2FHL). For comparison, we perform the same correlation analysis by using the 0.1-300 GeV gamma-ray energy flux provided by the third Fermi-LAT source catalog. We find that the correlation strength and significance depend on the gamma-ray energy range with a different behavior among the blazar sub-classes. Overall, the radio and gamma-ray emission above 10 GeV turns out to be uncorrelated for the full samples and for all of the blazar sub-classes with the exception of high synchrotron peaked (HSP) objects, which show a strong and significant correlation. On the contrary, when 0.1-300 GeV gamma-ray energies are considered, a strong and significant correlation is found for the full blazar sample as well as for all of the blazar sub-classes. We interpret and explain this correlation behavior within the framework of the blazar spectral energy distribution properties.

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arXiv2017

The second catalog of flaring gamma-ray sources from the Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis

We present the second catalog of flaring gamma-ray sources (2FAV) detected with the Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis (FAVA), a tool that blindly searches for transients over the entire sky observed by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the \textit{Fermi} Gamma-ray Space Telescope. With respect to the first FAVA catalog, this catalog benefits from a larger data set, the latest LAT data release (Pass 8), as well as from an improved analysis that includes likelihood techniques for a more precise localization of the transients. Applying this analysis on the first 7.4 years of \textit{Fermi} observations, and in two separate energy bands 0.1$-$0.8 GeV and 0.8$-$300 GeV, a total of 4547 flares has been detected with a significance greater than $6σ$ (before trials), on the time scale of one week. Through spatial clustering of these flares, 518 variable gamma-ray sources are identified. Likely counterparts, based on positional coincidence, have been found for 441 sources, mostly among the blazar class of active galactic nuclei. For 77 2FAV sources, no likely gamma-ray counterpart has been found. For each source in the catalog, we provide the time, location, and spectrum of each flaring episode. Studying the spectra of the flares, we observe a harder-when-brighter behavior for flares associated with blazars, with the exception of BL Lac flares detected in the low-energy band. The photon indexes of the flares are never significantly smaller than 1.5. For a leptonic model, and under the assumption of isotropy, this limit suggests that the spectrum of the freshly accelerated electrons is never harder than $p\sim$2.

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arXiv2017

Single-dish and VLBI observations of Cygnus X-3 during the 2016 giant flare episode

In September 2016, the microquasar Cygnus X-3 underwent a giant radio flare, which was monitored for 6 days with the Medicina Radio Astronomical Station and the Sardinia Radio Telescope. Long observations were performed in order to follow the evolution of the flare on a hourly scale, covering six frequency ranges from 1.5 GHz to 25.6 GHz. The radio emission reached a maximum of 13.2 +/- 0.7 Jy at 7.2 GHz and 10 +/- 1 Jy at 18.6 GHz. Rapid flux variations were observed at high radio frequencies at the peak of the flare, together with rapid evolution of the spectral index: alpha steepened from 0.3 to 0.6 within 5 hours. This is the first time that such fast variations are observed, giving support to the evolution from optically thick to optically thin plasmons in expansion moving outward from the core. Based on the Italian network (Noto, Medicina and SRT) and extended to the European antennas (Torun, Yebes, Onsala), VLBI observations were triggered at 22 GHz on five different occasions, four times prior to the giant flare, and once during its decay phase. Flux variations of 2-hour duration were recorded during the first session. They correspond to a mini-flare that occurred close to the core ten days before the onset of the giant flare. From the latest VLBI observation we infer that four days after the flare peak the jet emission was extended over 30 mas.

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arXiv2017

Kiloparsec-scale emission in the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 783

We present the first results of a radio survey of 79 narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) carried out with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) at 5 GHz in A configuration aimed at studying the radio properties of these sources. We report the detection of extended emission in one object: Mrk 783. This is intriguing, since the radio-loudness parameter R of this object is close to the threshold between radio-quiet and radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN). The galaxy is one of the few NLS1 showing such an extended emission at z < 0.1. The radio emission is divided in a compact core component and an extended component, observed on both sides of the nucleus and extending from 14 kpc south-east to 12 kpc north-west. There is no sign of a collimated jet, and the shape of the extended component is similar to those of some Seyfert galaxies. The properties of the emission are compatible with a relic produced by the intermittent activity cycle of the AGN.

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arXiv2017

Restarting activity in the nucleus of PBC J2333.9-2343: an extreme case of jet realignment

PBC J2333.9-2343 is a giant radio galaxy which shows different characteristics at different wavebands that are difficult to explain within the actual generic schemes of unification of active galactic nuclei (AGN), thus being a good candidate to host different phases of nuclear activity. We aim at disentangling the nature of this AGN by using simultaneous multiwavelength data. We obtained data in 2015 from the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), the San Pedro Mártir telescope, and the XMM-Newton}observatories. This allows the study of the nuclear parts of the galaxy through its morphology and spectra, as well as the analysis of the spectral energy distribution (SED). We also reanalysed optical data from the San Pedro Mártir telescope from 2009 previously presented in Parisi et al. (2012) for a homogeneous comparison. At X-ray frequencies, the source is unabsorbed. The optical spectra are of a type 1.9 AGN, both in 2009 and 2015, although showing a broader component in 2015. The VLBA radio images show an inverted spectrum with self-absorbed, optically thick compact core and steep spectrum, optically thin jet. The SED resembles that of typical blazars and is best represented by an external Compton (EC) model with a viewing angle of $\sim$ 3-6 degrees. The apparent size of the large scale structure of PBC J2333.9-2343 must correspond to an intrinsic deprojected value of $\sim 7$ Mpc for $θ_v<10^\circ$, and to $> 13$ Mpc for $θ_v<5^\circ$, a value much larger than the bigger giant radio galaxy known (4.5 Mpc). The above arguments suggest that PBC J2333.9-2343 has undergone through a new episode of nuclear activity and that the direction of the new jet has changed, in the plane of the sky and is now pointing towards us, making this source from being a radio galaxy to become a blazar, a very exceptional case of restarting activity.

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