J/A+A/590/A10 3C 279 optical photometry and polarimetry (Kiehlmann+, 2016)
Polarization angle swings in blazars: The case of 3C 279.
Kiehlmann S., Savolainen T., Jorstad S.G., Sokolovsky K.V., Schinzel F.K.,
Marscher A.P., Larionov V.M., Agudo I., Akitaya H., Benitez E.,
Berdyugin A., Blinov D.A., Bochkarev N.G., Borman G.A., Burenkov A.N.,
Casadio C., Doroshenko V.T., Efimova N.V., Fukazawa Y., Gomez J.L.,
Grishina T.S., Hagen-Thorn V.A., Heidt J., Hiriart D., Itoh R., Joshi M.,
Kawabata K.S., Kimeridze G.N., Kopatskaya E.N., Korobtsev I.V., Krajci T.,
Kurtanidze O.M., Kurtanidze S.O., Larionova E.G., Larionova L.V.,
Lindfors E., Lopez J.M., McHardy I.M., Molina S.N., Moritani Y.,
Morozova D.A., Nazarov S.V., Nikolashvili M.G., Nilsson K., Pulatova N.G.,
Reinthal R., Sadun A., Sasada M., Savchenko S.S., Sergeev S.G., Sigua L.A.,
Smith P.S., Sorcia M., Spiridonova O.I., Takaki K., Takalo L.O., Taylor B.,
Troitsky I.S., Uemura M., Ugolkova L.S., Ui T., Yoshida M., Zensus J.A.,
Zhdanova V.E.
<Astron. Astrophys. 590, A10 (2016)>
=2016A&A...590A..10K 2016A&A...590A..10K (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Active gal. nuclei ; QSOs ; Galaxies, radio ; Photometry ;
Polarization
Keywords: polarization - galaxies: active - galaxies: jets -
quasars: individual: 3C 279
Abstract:
Over the past few years, several occasions of large, continuous
rotations of the electric vector position angle (EVPA) of linearly
polarized optical emission from blazars have been reported. These
events are often coincident with high energy gamma-ray flares and they
have attracted considerable attention, as they could allow one to
probe the magnetic field structure in the gamma-ray emitting region of
the jet. The flat-spectrum radio quasar 3C 279 is one of the most
prominent examples showing this behaviour.
Our goal is to study the observed EVPA rotations and to distinguish
between a stochastic and a deterministic origin of the polarization
variability.
We have combined multiple data sets of R-band photometry and optical
polarimetry measurements of 3C 279, yielding exceptionally
well-sampled flux density and polarization curves that cover a period
of 2008-2012. Several large EVPA rotations are identified in the data.
We introduce a quantitative measure for the EVPA curve smoothness,
which is then used to test a set of simple random walk polarization
variability models against the data.
3C 279 shows different polarization variation characteristics during
an optical low-flux state and a flaring state. The polarization
variation during the flaring state, especially the smooth approx. 360
deg. rotation of the EVPA in mid-2011, is not consistent with the
tested stochastic processes.
We conclude that during the two different optical flux states, two
different processes govern the polarization variation, possibly a
stochastic process during the low-brightness state and a deterministic
process during the flaring activity.
Description:
Optical polarization curves in various bands and R-band light curve of
3C 279.
Objects:
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RA (2000) DE Designation(s)
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12 56 11.17 -05 47 21.5 3C 279 = PKS J125611-054720
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File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ReadMe 80 . This file
pol_ori.dat 62 600 Measured optical polarization data of 3C 279
pol_pro.dat 47 443 Processed, combined optical polarization data
phot_ori.dat 52 1878 Measured R-band magnitudes of 3C 279
phot_pro.dat 72 634 Processed, combined R-band photometry of 3C 279
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See also:
J/A+A/409/857 : Optical polarization of 3C 279 (Andruchow+, 2003)
J/AJ/133/2866 : 2001-02 optical variability of blazar 3C 279 (Kartaltepe+ 2007)
J/ApJ/772/13 : VLBI observations of 3C 279 at 230GHz (Lu+, 2013)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: pol_ori.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 14 A14 --- Obs Observatory
16- 19 A4 --- Band [R V WL V+R spec] Filter
21- 32 F12.4 d JD Julian date
34- 39 F6.4 --- PF Fractional polarization in Band (1)
41- 46 F6.4 --- e_PF rms uncertainty on PF
48- 53 F6.2 deg PA Polarization angle in Band (2)
55- 60 F6.2 deg e_PA rms uncertainty on PA
62 A1 --- Flag [Y] "Y" marks data points flagged as outliers
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Note (1): The fractional polarization is not corrected for the bias.
Note (2): The polarization angle is measured counter-clockwise from North.
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: pol_pro.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 12 F12.4 d JD Julian date (1)
14- 19 F6.4 --- PF Fractional polarization debiased (2)
21- 26 F6.4 --- e_PF rms uncertainty on PF
28- 33 F6.2 deg PA Polarization angle (3)
35- 40 F6.2 deg PAadj Adjusted polarization angle (4)
42- 47 F6.2 deg e_PA rms uncertainty on PA
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Note (1): Data points within an interval of half a day have been averaged
uncertainty weighted (polarization data averaging in Stokes parameters
Q/I, U/I).
Note (2): The fractional polarization is corrected for the Rician bias.
Note (3): The polarization angle is given in the interval [0, 180[ degrees.
Note (4): The adjusted polarization angle curve has minimized differences
between adjacent data points, accounting for the 180-degrees-ambiguity.
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: phot_ori.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 21 A21 --- Obs Observatory
23 A1 --- Band [R] Filter
25- 36 F12.4 d JD Julian date
38- 43 F6.3 mag Rmag R magnitude
45- 50 F6.3 mag e_Rmag rms uncertainty in Rmag
52 A1 --- Flag [Y] "Y" marks data points flagged as outliers
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: phot_pro.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 12 F12.4 d JD Julian date (1)
14 A1 --- Band [R] Filter
16- 21 F6.3 mag Rmag R magnitude (2)
23- 28 F6.3 mag e_Rmag rms uncertainty in Rmag (2)
30- 35 F6.3 mag Rmagcc Cross-calibrated R magnitude (3)
37- 42 F6.3 mag e_Rmagcc rms uncertainty in Rmagcc (3)
44- 49 F6.3 mag Rmagex Extinction corrected, cross-calibrated
R magnitude (4)
51- 56 F6.3 mag e_Rmagex rms uncertainty in Rmagex (4)
58- 63 F6.3 mJy Flux Spectral flux density (5)
65- 70 F6.3 mJy e_Flux Spectral flux density uncertainty (5)
72 A1 --- Flag [Y] "Y" marks data points flagged as outliers
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Note (1): Data points within an interval of half a day have been averaged
uncertainty weighted.
Note (2): Originally measured magnitudes and uncertainties
Note (3): This light curve comprises data from 23 different observers/
observatories. Calibration differences have been accounted for
through cross-calibration of the different light curves.
Note (4): The light curve is corrected for galactic extinction according to
Schlegel et al. (1998ApJ...500..525S 1998ApJ...500..525S). The extinction correction
has been applied after the cross-calibration.
Note (5): Spectral flux densities are calculated from the extinction corrected,
cross-calibrated magnitudes.
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History:
From Sebastian Kiehlmann, sebastian.kiehlmann(at)aalto.fi
Acknowledgements:
S.K. was supported for this research through a stipend from the
International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Astronomy and
Astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in
cooperation with the Universities of Bonn and Cologne. T.S. was partly
supported by the Academy of Finland project 274477. The research at
Boston University was partly funded by NASA Fermi GI grant NNX11AQ03G.
K.V.S. is partly supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic
Research grants 13-02-12103 and 14-02-31789. N.G.B. was supported by
the RFBR grant 12-02-01237a. E.B., M.S. and D.H. thank financial
support from UNAM DGAPA-PAPIIT through grant IN116211-3. IA
acknowledges support by a Ramon y Cajal grant of the Spanish Ministry
of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). The research at the IAA-CSIC
and the MAPCAT program are supported by the Spanish Ministry of
Economy and Competitiveness and the Regional Government of Andalucia
(Spain) through grants AYA2010-14844, AYA2013-40825-P, and
P09-FQM-4784. The Calar Alto Observatory is jointly operated by the
Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy and the Instituto de Astrofisica de
Andalucia-CSIC. Data from the Steward Observatory spectropolarimetric
monitoring project were used. This program is supported by Fermi Guest
Investigator grants NNX08AW56G, NNX09AU10G, NNX12AO93G, and
NNX14AQ58G. St.Petersburg University team acknowledges support from
Russian RFBR grant 15-02-00949 and St.Petersburg University research
grant 6.38.335.2015. The Abastumani team acknowledges financial
support of the project FR/638/6-320/12 by the Shota Rustaveli National
Science Foundation under contract 31/77. We acknowledge the
photometric observations from the AAVSO International Database
contributed by observers worldwide and used in this research. These
data include up-to-date SMARTS optical/near-infrared light curves that
are available at http://www.astro.yale.edu/smarts/glast/
(2012ApJ...756...13B 2012ApJ...756...13B).
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(End) Patricia Vannier [CDS] 11-Mar-2016