Investigating the multiwavelength behaviour of the flat spectrum radio quasar CTA 102 during 2013

Investigating the multiwavelength behaviour of the flat spectrum radio quasar CTA 102 during 2013–2017

Published:2019-10-09 Issue:4 Volume:490 Page:5300-5316
ISSN:0035-8711
Container-title:Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
language:en
Short-container-title:

Author:

D’Ammando F¹^ORCID,Raiteri C M²^ORCID,Villata M²,Acosta-Pulido J A³⁴,Agudo I⁵,Arkharov A A⁶,Bachev R⁷,Baida G V⁸,Benítez E⁹^ORCID,Borman G A⁸,Boschin W³⁴¹⁰,Bozhilov V¹¹,Butuzova M S⁸^ORCID,Calcidese P¹²,Carnerero M I²,Carosati D¹⁰¹³,Casadio C⁵¹⁴,Castro-Segura N⁴¹⁵,Chen W-P¹⁶,Damljanovic G¹⁷,Di Paola A¹⁸,Echevarría J⁹,Efimova N V⁶,Ehgamberdiev Sh A¹⁹,Espinosa C⁹,Fuentes A⁵,Giunta A¹⁸,Gómez J L⁵,Grishina T S²⁰,Gurwell M A²¹,Hiriart D⁹,Jermak H²²,Jordan B²³,Jorstad S G²⁰²⁴,Joshi M²⁴,Kimeridze G N²⁵,Kopatskaya E N²⁰,Kuratov K²⁶²⁷,Kurtanidze O M²⁵²⁸²⁹³⁰,Kurtanidze S O²⁵,Lähteenmäki A³¹³²,Larionov V M⁶²⁰,Larionova E G²⁰,Larionova L V²⁰,Lázaro C³⁴,Lin C S¹⁶,Malmrose M P²⁴,Marscher A P²⁴,Matsumoto K³³,McBreen B³⁴,Michel R⁹,Mihov B⁷,Minev M¹¹,Mirzaqulov D O¹⁹,Molina S N⁵,Moody J W³⁵,Morozova D A²⁰,Nazarov S V⁸,Nikiforova A A⁶²⁰,Nikolashvili M G²⁵,Ohlert J M³⁶³⁷,Okhmat N⁸,Ovcharov E⁹,Pinna F³⁴,Polakis T A³⁸,Protasio C³⁴,Pursimo T³⁹,Redondo-Lorenzo F J³⁴,Rizzi N⁴⁰,Rodriguez-Coira G⁴¹,Sadakane K³³,Sadun A C⁴²,Samal M R¹⁶^ORCID,Savchenko S S²⁰,Semkov E⁷,Sigua L²⁵,Skiff B A⁴³,Slavcheva-Mihova L⁷,Smith P S⁴⁴,Steele I A²²,Strigachev A⁷,Tammi J³¹,Thum C⁴⁵,Tornikoski M³¹,Troitskaya Yu V²⁰,Troitsky I S²⁰,Vasilyev A A²⁰^ORCID,Vince O¹⁷,Hovatta T⁴⁶⁴⁷,Kiehlmann S⁴⁸^ORCID,Max-Moerbeck W⁴⁹,Readhead A C S⁴⁸,Reeves R⁵⁰,Pearson T J⁴⁸^ORCID,Mufakharov T⁵¹⁵²,Sotnikova Yu V⁵³,Mingaliev M G⁵²⁵³, ,

Affiliation:

1. INAF - Istituto di Radioastronomia, Via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy

2. INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Via P. Torinese, I- Torino, Italy

3. Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), La Laguna, E-38200 Tenerife, Spain

4. Departamento de Astrofisica, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, E-38205 Tenerife, Spain

5. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), E-18080 Granada, Spain

6. Pulkovo Observatory, 196140 St. Petersburg, Russia

7. Institute of Astronomy and NAO, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria

8. Crimean Astrophysical Observatory RAS, P/O Nauchny 298409, Russia

9. Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México

10. INAF, TNG Fundación Galileo Galilei, E-38712 La Palma, Spain

11. Faculty of Physics, Department of Astronomy, University of Sofia, BG-1164 Sofia, Bulgaria

12. Osservatorio Astronomico della Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, I-11020 Nus, Italy

13. EPT Observatories, Tijarafe, E-38780 La Palma, Spain

14. Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, D–53121 Bonn, Germany

15. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK

16. Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Jhongli City, Taoyuan County 32001, Taiwan

17. Astronomical Observatory, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia

18. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, I-00040 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy

19. Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute, Maidanak Observatory, Tashkent 100052, Uzbekistan

20. Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia

21. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

22. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK

23. School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies, Ireland

24. Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA

25. Abastumani Observatory, Mt. Kanobili, 0301 Abastumani, Georgia

26. NNLOT, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 050040 Almaty, Kazakhstan

27. Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute, Almaty, Kazakhstan

28. Engelhardt Astronomical Observatory, Kazan Federal University, 422526 Tatarstan, Russia

29. Landessternwarte, Zentrum fr Astronomie der Universitt Heidelberg, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany

30. Center for Astrophysics, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China

31. Aalto University Metsähovi Radio Observatory, FI-02540 Kylmälä, Finland

32. Aalto University Dept of Electronics and Nanoengineering, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland

33. Astronomical Institute, Osaka Kyoiku University, Osaka 582-8582, Japan

34. UCD School of Physics, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland

35. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA

36. Michael Adrian Observatorium, Astronomie Stiftung Trebur, D-65468 Trebur, Germany

37. University of Applied Sciences, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen, D-61169 Friedberg, Germany

38. Command Module Observatory, Tempe AZ, USA

39. Nordic Optical Telescope, E-38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

40. Osservatorio Astronomico Sirio, I-70013 Castellana Grotte, Italy

41. LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon, France

42. Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA

43. Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 85751, USA

44. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

45. Instituto de Radio Astronomía Milimétrica, E-18012 Granada, Spain

46. Finnish Center for Astronomy with ESO (FINCA), University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland

47. Aalto University Metshovi Radio Observatory, Metshovintie 114, FI-02540 Kylmälä, Finland

48. Owens Valley Radio Observatory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

49. Departamento de Astronoma, Universidad de Chile, Camino El Observatorio 1515, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile

50. Departamento de Astronomia, Universidad de Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile

51. Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, China

52. Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlyovskaya St, Kazan 420044, Russia

53. Special Astrophysical Observatory of RAS, Nizhnij Arkhyz 369167, Russia

Abstract

ABSTRACT We present a multiwavelength study of the flat-spectrum radio quasar CTA 102 during 2013–2017. We use radio-to-optical data obtained by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope, 15 GHz data from the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, 91 and 103 GHz data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, near-infrared data from the Rapid Eye Monitor telescope, as well as data from the Swift (optical-UV and X-rays) and Fermi (γ-rays) satellites to study flux and spectral variability and the correlation between flux changes at different wavelengths. Unprecedented γ-ray flaring activity was observed during 2016 November–2017 February, with four major outbursts. A peak flux of (2158 ± 63) × 10−8 ph cm−2 s−1, corresponding to a luminosity of (2.2 ± 0.1) × 1050 erg s−1, was reached on 2016 December 28. These four γ-ray outbursts have corresponding events in the near-infrared, optical, and UV bands, with the peaks observed at the same time. A general agreement between X-ray and γ-ray activity is found. The γ-ray flux variations show a general, strong correlation with the optical ones with no time lag between the two bands and a comparable variability amplitude. This γ-ray/optical relationship is in agreement with the geometrical model that has successfully explained the low-energy flux and spectral behaviour, suggesting that the long-term flux variations are mainly due to changes in the Doppler factor produced by variations of the viewing angle of the emitting regions. The difference in behaviour between radio and higher energy emission would be ascribed to different viewing angles of the jet regions producing their emission.

Funder

ASI-INAF

Bulgarian National Science Fund

Ministry of Education and Science

University of Crete

Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation

Russian Science Foundation

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

NASA/Fermi Guest Investigator