Optical Spectra Evolution of BL Lac Objects

Many quasi-simultaneous optical observations of nine BL Lac objects are obtained from literature. We study the relationship between the optical spectral index and the luminosity of BL Lac objects, and are tempted to exploit spectral evolution in the optical frequency ranges. Our results show that: (i) The optical spectra index of the low-frequency peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) is steeper than the high-frequency peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs); (ii) The spectra tend to be softer when the source becomes brighter for LBLs and the intermediate BL Lac objects (IBLs) (i.e., bluer-when-brighter), and the spectra of HBLs does not vary when the brightness of HBLs changes. Possible explanations are briefly discussed for this phenomenon.     

BeppoSAX observations of 1-Jy BL Lacertae objects – I

We present new BeppoSAX observations of seven BL Lacertae objects selected from the 1-Jy sample plus one additional source. The collected data cover the energy range     (observer's frame), reaching ∼50 keV for one source (BL Lac). All sources characterized by a peak in their multifrequency spectra at infrared/optical energies (i.e., of the low-energy peaked BL Lac type, LBL) display a relatively flat     X-ray spectrum, which we interpret as inverse Compton emission. Four objects (two-thirds of the LBLs) show some evidence for a low-energy steepening, which is probably due to the synchrotron tail merging into the inverse Compton component around ∼     . If this were generally the case with LBLs, it would explain why the     ROSAT spectra of our sources are systematically steeper than the BeppoSAX ones     . The broad-band spectral energy distributions fully confirm this picture, and a synchrotron inverse Compton model allows us to derive the physical parameters (intrinsic power, magnetic field, etc.) of our sources. Combining our results with those obtained by BeppoSAX on BL Lacs covering a wide range of synchrotron peak frequency, ν _peak, we confirm and clarify the dependence of the X-ray spectral index on ν _peak originally found in ROSAT data.     

A search for optical polarization from the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy RE J1034+396

We present spectropolarimetry data on RE J1034+396, an ultra-soft X-ray narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy, and find an upper limit of ∼ 0.4 to the linear polarization in the optical band. This suggests that there is no synchrotron emission in this AGN, and thus it is unlikely that RE J1034+396 is related to BL Lac objects. Furthermore, any other polarization arising from transmission through dust, or reflection from dust and electrons, must be cancelled out by geometrical effects or diluted to a high degree by unpolarized radiation.     

The unusual host galaxy of the BL Lac object PKS 1413+135

The BL Lacertae object PKS 1413+135 is associated with a disc-dominated galaxy that heavily absorbs the BL Lac nucleus at optical and X-ray wavelengths. It has been argued whether this galaxy is actually the host galaxy of PKS 1413+135 or whether the BL Lac is a background QSO, gravitationally lensed by the apparent host galaxy. We have obtained deep high-resolution H -band images of this unusual BL Lac object using the UKIRT IRCAM3. Our observations show that the BL Lac nucleus is centred within 0.05 arcsec of the galaxy. Based on this result, we assess the probability for the lensing scenario and come to the conclusion that the disc galaxy is indeed the host of PKS 1413+135. The galaxy shows peanut-shaped isophotes, suggesting the presence of a central bar, which is a common feature of AGN.     

Unusual optical quiescence of the classical BL Lac object PKS 0735+178 on intranight time-scale

We present the result of our extensive intranight optical monitoring of the well-known low-energy peaked BL Lac (LBL) object PKS 0735+178. This long-term follow-up consists of R -band monitoring for a minimum duration of ∼4 hours, on 17 nights spanning 11 years (1998–2008). Using the CCD as an N-star photometer, a detection limit of around 1 per cent was attained for the intranight optical variability (INOV). Remarkably, an INOV amplitude of  ≥3 per cent  on hour-like time-scale was not observed on any of the 17 nights, even though the likelihood of a typical LBL showing such INOV levels in a single session of  ≳4  hours duration is known to be high  (∼50 per cent)  . Our observations have thus established a peculiar long-term INOV quiescence of this radio-selected BL Lac object. Moreover, the access to unpublished optical monitoring data of similarly high sensitivity, acquired in another programme, has allowed us to confirm the same anomalous INOV quiescence of this LBL all the way back to 1989, the epoch of its historically largest radio outburst. Here, we present observational evidence revealing the very unusual INOV behaviour of this classical BL Lac object and discuss this briefly in the context of its other known exceptional properties.     

The Unified Scheme of BL Lac Objects and the K-Band Hubble Diagram

In this paper, the variations of BL Lac objects in the infrared band are given. The relation between infrared magnitude-K and redshift is discussed for BL Lac objects, FRI, and FRII(G) radio galaxies. The results show that the faintest optical and infrared magnitudes are correlated, the BL Lac objects with large infrared variation have large optical variation, and the unified scheme of BL Lac objects should include FRI and FRII(G) radio galaxies, which support the results of Xie et al. (1993) and Owen, Ledlow and Keel (1996). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

致密射电源短时标变化的相对论效应

本文讨论相对论激波在喷流中传播时,由照明不均匀性所引起的同步加速辐射问题中的某些相对论效应.研究激波的结构和厚度以及不均匀性尺度对于辐射变化的时标和变幅的关系.结果表明,由于激波辐射区的厚度对于光学辐射和射电辐射的不同,可能引起射电变化相对于光学变化的时间迟延,从而对某些观测现象提供了一种解释.     

BL Lac天体处于高态与低态时的短时标光变的差异及机制研究

分析了１９９３－１９９５年ＢＬＬａｃ、ＯＪ２８７和ＰＫＳ０７３５＋１７８三颗ＢＬＬａｃ天体光变的监测结果,并结合文献上他人发表的资料,发现一些ＢＬＬａｃ天体处于高态时活动性较强,短时标光变频繁发生,而处于低态时活动性较弱,短时标光变很少发生．文中提出活动星系核的相对论性喷流方向会改变,从而导致长期光变;高态是喷流方向与观测者视线夹角较小的表现,而低态则是夹角较大的表现。利用该模型能够解释ＢＬＬａｃ天体短时标光变行为在高态和低态下的差别,并能很好地解释Ｔａｋａｌｏ等人监测ＯＪ２８７时发现的新现象．     

Intermediate BL Lac objects

The 200-mJy sample, defined by Marchã et al., contains about 60 nearby, northern, flat-spectrum radio sources. In particular, the sample has proved effective at finding nearby radio-selected BL Lac objects with radio luminosities comparable to those of X-ray-selected objects, and low-luminosity flat-spectrum weak emission-line radio galaxies (WLRGs). The 200-mJy sample contains 23 BL Lac objects (including 6 BL Lac candidates) and 19 WLRGs. We will refer to these subsamples as the 200-mJy BL Lac sample and the 200-mJy WLRG sample, respectively. We have started a systematic analysis of the morphological pc-scale properties of the 200-mJy radio sources using VLBI observations.
This paper presents VLBI observations at 5 and 1.6 GHz of 14 BL Lac objects and WLRGs selected from the 200-mJy sample. The pc-scale morphology of these objects is briefly discussed. We derive the radio beaming parameters of the 200-mJy BL Lac objects and WLRGs and compare them with those of other BL Lac samples and with a sample of FR I radio galaxies. The overall broad-band radio, optical and X-ray properties of the 200-mJy BL Lac sample are discussed and compared with those of other BL Lac samples, radio- and X-ray-selected. We find that the 200-mJy BL Lac objects fill the gap between HBL and LBL objects in the colour–colour plot, and have intermediate α _XOX as expected in the spectral energy distribution unification scenario. Finally, we briefly discuss the role of the WLRGs.     

Calculating the Light Period of BL Lac Object S5 0716+714 by Wavelet Analysis Method

A kind of wavelet analysis method for identifying the light period of the BL Lac object S5 0716+714 is introduced. The rather complete observed data in the four optical wavebands B, V, R, I are collected, and the long-term light curves based on 10-day averaging are obtained. On these light curves, the periodicity analysis is performed by using a wavelet analysis method. The result demonstrates that the wavelet analysis method is preferable for searching and identifying the light periods of BL Lac objects. From the contour map of the real part of the wavelet transform coefficient, the periodical light variations of the BL Lac object S5 0716+714 can be precisely identified. By analyzing the wavelet variance curves at the 4 wavebands, it is found that the BL Lac Object S5 0716+174 has a stable light period of 1160 days. This result is consistent with the 3.3-year period given by Raiteri et al. It is predicted that the next outburst in this object will happen around the August of 2011.     

激变射电源中偏振角快速旋转的解释

在许多激变射电源(Blazar天体)中,观测到一种非常特别的现象,即偏振角的快速旋转.在相对论喷流的框架下,这种偏振角的旋转可以用双成分模型来解释.在这个模型中,一个成分是作为背景喷流本身的辐射,是恒定不变的成分;另一个成分被认为是沿喷流传播的相对论性激波,它产生变化的流量和偏振.这两个成分的偏系辐射的叠加可以产生观测到的偏振角旋转。本文讨论了三个激变射电源(BL Lac,AO0235+164,0727-115)中发生的偏振角旋转.结果表明,用相对论喷流-激波双成分模型可以很好地拟合观测到的偏振角旋转、偏振度和流量变化。说明射电激变源中出现的快速偏振和流量变化可能是由于相对论激波沿喷流传播时,激波辐射区中磁场取向和有序性以及强度和电子密度的变化所引起的。     

Properties of BL Lac Objects with Redshift≤0.2

1 INTRODUCTIONBlazars, including BL Lacertae objects and Optical Violently Variable (OVV) quasars,belong to a class of active ga1actic nuclei (AGNs), the spectrum of which is dominated bynontherma1 radiation from re1ativistic electrons in jets pointing at us (e.g. BlandfOrd & Rees1978; Urry & Padovani 1995). The entire electromagnetic spectraI energy distributions (SEDs)usually reveal two broad components, the low energy part, peaking in the IR to soft X-rayrange, and the high en…     

TheS-shaped limit cycle of accretion disk and quasi-periodic variation of BL Lac object on231

If we adopt the analytical approximation of the full intergrations of thin disk, we obtainS-shaped limit cycle around the supermassive black holes in BL Lac objects. On the basis of this, we explain quasi-periodic outburst of the BL Lac object ON+231. Conclusion is drawn that the accretion of black holes is the possible energy source of ON+231 and its variability is caused by the thermal limit cycle with alternating higher and lower accretion rates onto the black hole.     

Properties of BL Lac Objects with Redshift < 0.2

We present a large sample which includes 82 BL Lac objects with redshifts below 0.2 from recent literature. We find strong correlations in both flux and luminosity between the radio (5 GHz) and optical bands (5500 A). The correlations in other bands are very weak. Five TeV BL Lacs and two suspect sources are found to have similar properties as high-frequency-peaked BL Lacs (HBLs). Our results suggest that both the radio and optical emissions are from the same radiation mech anism in the SSC model. The TeV BL Lac candidates should be HBLs or HBL-like objects with small redshifts.     

The broadband spectral energy distributions of SDSS blazars

We compiled the radio, optical and X-ray data of blazars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database, and presented the distribution of luminosities and broadband spectral indices. The distribution of luminosities shows that the averaged luminosity of flat spectrum radio quasars(FSRQs) is larger than that of BL Lacertae(BL Lac) objects. On the other hand, the broadband spectral energy distribution reveals that FSRQs and low energy peaked BL Lac objects have similar spectral properties,but high energy peaked BL Lac objects have a distinct spectral property. This may be due to the fact that different subclasses of blazars have different intrinsic environments and are at different cooling levels. Even so, a unified scheme is also revealed from the color-color diagram, which hints that there are similar physical processes operating in all objects under a range of intrinsic physical conditions or beaming parameters.     

Optical photometry using Bradford robotic telescope

The Bradford Robotic Telescope (BRT) is located on Mount Teide at Tenerife and is working, taking observations since 2003. It is a fully automated telescope. The hardware and software used for the working of the telescope are described here. Twenty four BL Lac objects are observed since 2005 and magnitudes of the objects are calculated. We describe in this paper the working of BRT and optical BVR photometry of BL Lac objects, observed during 2005–2007.     

An Inhomogeneous Jet Model and Its Application in BL Lacertae Objects

In the inhomogeneous conical jet model, the electron number den- sity and magnetic ?eld strength have a power-law distribution with the distance from the jet apex. This model can interpret successfully the ?at-spectrum radio radiation from the core regions of active galactic nuclei. But the existing model calculation suits only the situation when the enclosed angle between the moving direction of a jet and the line of sight is very large, hence, we need to build a formula for calculating the radiation of inhomogeneous conical jets with any viewing angles. It is generally believed that the enclosed angle between the di- rection of jet motion and the line of sight is very small in BL Lac objects. With the extended inhomogeneous jet model, we have made ?tting on the observed radio spectra of three BL Lac objects, and obtained the physical parameters, such as the electron number density and magnetic ?eld strength in their jets. The result indicates that the nearest distance of the conical jet from the black hole is determined by the transition frequency of the observed radiation spec- trum, and that the nearest distance between the conical jet and the black hole is approximately the Schwarzschild radius for the three BL Lac objects.     

Effects of Redshift on the Classifying Criteria of BL Lacertae Objects

We have collected a sample of 70 BL Lacs (33 radio-selected BL Lacs and 37 X-ray selected BL Lacs) with multi-waveband data for investigating the classifying criteria of BL Lacertae Objects. For each source, we estimate its luminosities in radio, optical and X-ray, the broad-band spectral index from radio to X-ray and the peak frequency of the syn- chrotron emission, and make a statistical analysis of the data obtained. Our main results are as follows: (1) The broad-band spectral index and the peak frequency have no correlation with the redshift, while they are inversely correlated with each other and they could be regarded as equivalent classifying criteria of BL Lac objects. (2) There are significant effects of the luminosity/redshift relation on the observed luminosity distribution in our sample, hence, if the radio luminosity is to be used as a classifying criterion of BL Lac objects, it should not be regarded as equivalent to the broad-band spectral index or the peak frequency. (3) Our re- sults supply a specific piece of evidence for the suggestion that the use of luminosities always introduces a redshift bias to the data and show that the location of the peak frequency is not always linked to the luminosity of any wave band.     

Struktur und Entwicklung kompakter Radioquellen

A model is suggested which accounts for (i) the observed shape and angular variation of compact radio sources (especially the apparent superrelativistic velocities and the absence of contracting sources), (ii) the flux variation associated with the angular variation, and (iii) all the known cases of apparent occurence of surface brightness exceeding the theoretical upper limit provided by the inverse COMPTON effect, preserving the usual premises: cosmological origin of the redshift and incoherent synchrotron radiation of electrons. The model consists of a plasma ring expanding with moderate relativistic velocity. It provides two possibilities for estimating the distance of the sources by radio data: from the time dependence of the angular expansion and from the angular diameter and the shape of flux variation. In the context of cosmology this distances are „angular distances”︁ and therefore, if the redshift is also known, the HUBBLE constant or the acceleration parameter q₀ may be obtained. The second method is applied to BL Lac yielding approximately 6 Mpc. So the underlying galaxy would be a dwarf system of M ≈︂–13. The active nucleus of M ≈︂ – 16 is rather below the normal quasars. This seems very satisfactory in view of the short time scale of variations in BL Lac compared to the quasars.     

An Analysis of Light Periods of BL Lac Object S5 0716+714 with the MUSIC Algorithm

The multiple signal classi?cation (MUSIC) algorithm is introduced to the estimation of light periods of BL Lac objects. The principle of the MUSIC algorithm is given, together with a testing on its spectral resolution by using a simulative signal. From a lot of literature, we have collected a large number of effective observational data of the BL Lac object S5 0716+714 in the three optical wavebands V, R, and I from 1994 to 2008. The light periods of S5 0716+714 are obtained by means of the MUSIC algorithm and average periodogram algorithm, respectively. It is found that there exist two major periodic components, one is the period of (3.33±0.08) yr, another is the period of (1.24±0.01) yr. The comparison of the performances of periodicity analysis of two algorithms indicates that the MUSIC algorithm has a smaller requirement on the sample length, as well as a good spectral resolution and anti-noise ability, to improve the accuracy of periodicity analysis in the case of short sample length.