The Great Markarian 421 Flare of 2010 February: Multiwavelength Variability and Correlation Studies
Loading...
Access rights
openAccess
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
This publication is imported from Aalto University research portal.
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
Other link related to publication (opens in new window)
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
Other link related to publication (opens in new window)
Date
2020-02-20
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
Series
Astrophysical Journal, Volume 890, issue 2
Abstract
We report on variability and correlation studies using multiwavelength observations of the blazar Mrk 421 during the month of 2010 February, when an extraordinary flare reaching a level of ∼27 Crab Units above 1 TeV was measured in very high energy (VHE) γ-rays with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) observatory. This is the highest flux state for Mrk 421 ever observed in VHE γ-rays. Data are analyzed from a coordinated campaign across multiple instruments, including VHE γ-ray (VERITAS, Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov), high-energy γ-ray (Fermi-LAT), X-ray (Swift, Rossi X-ray Timing Experiment, MAXI), optical (including the GASP-WEBT collaboration and polarization data), and radio (Metsahovi, Owens Valley Radio Observatory, University of Michigan Radio Astronomy Observatory). Light curves are produced spanning multiple days before and after the peak of the VHE flare, including over several flare "decline" epochs. The main flare statistics allow 2 minute time bins to be constructed in both the VHE and optical bands enabling a cross-correlation analysis that shows evidence for an optical lag of ∼25-55 minutes, the first time-lagged correlation between these bands reported on such short timescales. Limits on the Doppler factor (δ ⪆ 33) and the size of the emission region (δ-1RB≲ 3.8 × 1013cm) are obtained from the fast variability observed by VERITAS during the main flare. Analysis of 10 minute binned VHE and X-ray data over the decline epochs shows an extraordinary range of behavior in the flux-flux relationship, from linear to quadratic to lack of correlation to anticorrelation. Taken together, these detailed observations of an unprecedented flare seen in Mrk 421 are difficult to explain with the classic single-zone synchrotron self-Compton model.Description
Keywords
Other note
Citation
Abeysekara, A U, Benbow, W, Bird, R, Brill, A, Brose, R, Buchovecky, M, Buckley, J H, Christiansen, J L, Chromey, A J, Daniel, M K, Dumm, J, Falcone, A, Feng, Q, Finley, J P, Fortson, L, Furniss, A, Galante, N, Gent, A, Gillanders, G H, Giuri, C, Gueta, O, Hassan, T, Hervet, O, Holder, J, Hughes, G, Humensky, T B, Johnson, C A, Kaaret, P, Kar, P, Kelley-Hoskins, N, Kertzman, M, Kieda, D, Krause, M, Krennrich, F, Kumar, S, Lang, M J, Moriarty, P, Mukherjee, R, Nelson, T, Nieto, D, Nievas Rosillo, M, O'Brien, S, Ong, R A, Otte, A N, Park, N, Petrashyk, A, Pichel, A, Pohl, M, Prado, R R, Pueschel, E, Quinn, J, Ragan, K, Reynolds, P T, Richards, G T, Roache, E, Rovero, A C, Rulten, C, Sadeh, I, Santander, M, Sembroski, G H, Shahinyan, K, Stevenson, B, Sushch, I, Tyler, J, Vassiliev, V V, Wakely, S P, Weinstein, A, Wells, R M, Wilcox, P, Wilhelm, A, Williams, D A, Zitzer, B, Acciari, V A, Ansoldi, S, Antonelli, L A, Arbet Engels, A, Baack, D, Babić, A, Banerjee, B, Barres De Almeida, U, Barrio, J A, Becerra González, J, Bednarek, W, Bellizzi, L, Bernardini, E, Berti, A, Besenrieder, J, Bhattacharyya, W, Bigongiari, C, Biland, A, Blanch, O, Bonnoli, G, Busetto, G, Carosi, R, Ceribella, G, Chai, Y, Cikota, S, Colak, S M, Colin, U, Colombo, E, Contreras, J L, Cortina, J, Covino, S, D'Elia, V, Da Vela, P, Dazzi, F, De Angelis, A, De Lotto, B, Delfino, M, Delgado, J, Di Pierro, F, Do Souto Espiñera, E, Dominis Prester, D, Dorner, D, Doro, M, Einecke, S, Elsaesser, D, Fallah Ramazani, V, Fattorini, A, Fernández-Barral, A, Ferrara, G, Fidalgo, D, Foffano, L, Fonseca, M V, Font, L, Fruck, C, Galindo, D, Gallozzi, S, García López, R J, Garczarczyk, M, Gasparyan, S, Gaug, M, Godinović, N, Green, D, Guberman, D, Hadasch, D, Hahn, A, Herrera, J, Hoang, J, Hrupec, D, Inoue, S, Ishio, K, Iwamura, Y, Kubo, H, Kushida, J, Lamastra, A, Lelas, D, Leone, F, Lindfors, E, Lombardi, S, Longo, F, López, M, López-Coto, R, López-Oramas, A, Machado De Oliveira Fraga, B, Maggio, C, Majumdar, P, Makariev, M, Mallamaci, M, Maneva, G, Manganaro, M, Mannheim, K, Maraschi, L, Mariotti, M, Martínez, M, Masuda, S, Mazin, D, Miceli, D, Minev, M, Miranda, J M, Mirzoyan, R, Molina, E, Moralejo, A, Morcuende, D, Moreno, V, Moretti, E, Munar-Adrover, P, Neustroev, V, Niedzwiecki, A, Nievas Rosillo, M, Nigro, C, Nilsson, K, Ninci, D, Nishijima, K, Noda, K, Nogués, L, Nöthe, M, Paiano, S, Palacio, J, Palatiello, M, Paneque, D, Paoletti, R, Paredes, J M, Penil, P, Peresano, M, Persic, M, Prada Moroni, P G, Prandini, E, Puljak, I, Rhode, W, Ribó, M, Rico, J, Righi, C, Rugliancich, A, Saha, L, Sahakyan, N, Saito, T, Satalecka, K, Schweizer, T, Sitarek, J, Šnidarić, I, Sobczynska, D, Somero, A, Stamerra, A, Strom, D, Strzys, M, Sun, S, Surić, T, Tavecchio, F, Temnikov, P, Terzić, T, Teshima, M, Torres-Alba, N, Tsujimoto, S, Van Scherpenberg, J, Vanzo, G, Vazquez Acosta, M, Vovk, I, Will, M, Zarić, D, Aller, H D, Aller, M F, Carini, M T, Horan, D, Jordan, B, Jorstad, S G, Kurtanidze, O M, Kurtanidze, S O, Lahteenmaki, A, Larionov, V M, Larionova, E G, Madejski, G, Marscher, A P, Max-Moerbeck, W, Moody, J W, Morozova, D A, Nikolashvili, M G, Raiteri, C M, Readhead, A C S, Richards, J L, Sadun, A C, Sakamoto, T, Sigua, L A, Smith, P S, Talvikki, H, Tammi, J, Tornikoski, M, Troitsky, I S & Villata, M 2020, ' The Great Markarian 421 Flare of 2010 February: Multiwavelength Variability and Correlation Studies ', The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 890, no. 2, 97 . https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab6612