Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar BL Lacertae: A New Fast TeV Gamma-Ray Flare

A. U. Abeysekara; W. Benbow; R. Bird; T. Brantseg; R. Brose; M. Buchovecky; J. H. Buckley; V. Bugaev; M. P. Connolly; W. Cui; M. K. Daniel; A. Falcone; Q. Feng; J. P. Finley; L. Fortson; A. Furniss; G. H. Gillanders; I. Gunawardhana; M. Huetten; D. Hanna; O. Hervet; J. Holder; G. Hughes; T. B. Humensky; C. A. Johnson; P. Kaaret; P. Kar; M. Kertzman; F. Krennrich; M. J. Lang; T. T. Y. Lin; S. McArthur; P. Moriarty; R. Mukherjee; S. O'Brien; R. A. Ong; A. N. Otte; N. Park; A. Petrashyk; M. Pohl; E. Pueschel; J. Quinn; K. Ragan; P. T. Reynolds; G. T. Richards; E. Roache; C. Rulten; I. Sadeh; M. Santander; G. H. Sembroski; K. Shahinyan; S. P. Wakely; A. Weinstein; R. M. Wells; P. Wilcox; D. A. Williams; B. Zitzer; S. G. Jorstad; A. P. Marscher; M. L. Lister; Y. Y. Kovalev; A. B. Pushkarev; T. Savolainen; I. Agudo; S. N. Molina; J. L. Gomez; V. M. Larionov; G. A. Borman; A. A. Mokrushina; M. Tornikoski; A. Lahteenmaki; W. Chamani; S. Enestam; S. Kiehlmann; T. Hovatta; P. S. Smith; P. Pontrelli; VERITAS Collaboration

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aab35c

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Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar BL Lacertae: A New Fast TeV Gamma-Ray Flare

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Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar BL Lacertae: A New Fast TeV Gamma-Ray Flare

A. U. Abeysekara, W. Benbow, R. Bird, T. Brantseg, R. Brose, M. Buchovecky, J. H. Buckley, V. Bugaev, M. P. Connolly, W. Cui, …

The Astrophysical journal, v 856(2), p95

01 Apr 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aab35c

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Abstract

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Physical Sciences

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Combined with measurements made by very-long-baseline interferometry, the observations of fast TeV gamma-ray flares probe the structure and emission mechanism of blazar jets. However, only a handful of such flares have been detected to date, and only within the last few years have these flares been observed from lower-frequency-peaked BL. Lac objects and flat-spectrum radio quasars. We report on a fast TeV gamma-ray flare from the blazar BL. Lacertae observed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). with a rise time of similar to 2.3 hr and a decay time of similar to 36 min. The peak flux above 200 GeV is (4.2 +/- 0.6) x 10(-6) photon m(-2) s(-1) measured with a 4-minute-binned light curve, corresponding to similar to 180% of the flux that is observed from the Crab Nebula above the same energy threshold. Variability contemporaneous with the TeV gamma-ray flare was observed in GeV gamma-ray, X-ray, and optical flux, as well as in optical and radio polarization. Additionally, a possible moving emission feature with superluminal apparent velocity was identified in Very Long Baseline Array observations at 43 GHz, potentially passing the radio core of the jet around the time of the gamma-ray flare. We discuss the constraints on the size, Lorentz factor, and location of the emitting region of the flare, and the interpretations with several theoretical models that invoke relativistic plasma passing stationary shocks.

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Title: Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar BL Lacertae: A New Fast TeV Gamma-Ray Flare
Creators: A. U. Abeysekara - University of Utah
W. Benbow - Harvard University
R. Bird - University of California, Los Angeles
T. Brantseg - Iowa State University
R. Brose - University of Potsdam
M. Buchovecky - University of California, Los Angeles
J. H. Buckley - Washington University in St. Louis
V. Bugaev - Washington University in St. Louis
M. P. Connolly - National University of Ireland, Galway
W. Cui - Tsinghua University
M. K. Daniel - Harvard University
A. Falcone - Pennsylvania State University
Q. Feng - McGill University
J. P. Finley - Purdue University West Lafayette
L. Fortson - Univ Minnesota, Sch Phys & Astron, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
A. Furniss - California State University, East Bay
G. H. Gillanders - National University of Ireland, Galway
I. Gunawardhana - University of Utah
M. Huetten - DESY, Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
D. Hanna - McGill University
O. Hervet - University of California, Santa Cruz
J. Holder - University of Delaware
G. Hughes - Harvard University
T. B. Humensky - Columbia University
C. A. Johnson - University of California, Santa Cruz
P. Kaaret - University of Iowa
P. Kar - University of Utah
M. Kertzman - DePauw University
F. Krennrich - Iowa State University
M. J. Lang - National University of Ireland, Galway
T. T. Y. Lin - McGill University
S. McArthur - Purdue University West Lafayette
P. Moriarty - National University of Ireland, Galway
R. Mukherjee - Columbia University
S. O'Brien - University College Dublin
R. A. Ong - University of California, Los Angeles
A. N. Otte - Georgia Institute of Technology
N. Park - University of Chicago
A. Petrashyk - Columbia University
M. Pohl - University of Potsdam
E. Pueschel - DESY, Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
J. Quinn - University College Dublin
K. Ragan - McGill University
P. T. Reynolds - Cork Institute of Technology
G. T. Richards - Georgia Institute of Technology
E. Roache - Harvard University
C. Rulten - University of Minnesota
I. Sadeh - DESY, Platanenallee 6, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany
M. Santander - University of Alabama
G. H. Sembroski - Purdue University West Lafayette
K. Shahinyan - Univ Minnesota, Sch Phys & Astron, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
S. P. Wakely - University of Chicago
A. Weinstein - Iowa State Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Ames, IA 50011 USA
R. M. Wells - Iowa State University
P. Wilcox - University of Iowa
D. A. Williams - University of California, Santa Cruz
B. Zitzer - McGill University
S. G. Jorstad - Boston University
A. P. Marscher - Boston University
M. L. Lister - Purdue University West Lafayette
Y. Y. Kovalev - Max Planck Society
A. B. Pushkarev - Astro Space Ctr, Lebedev Phys Inst, Profsoyuznaya 84-32, Moscow 117997, Russia
T. Savolainen - Aalto University
I. Agudo - Spanish National Research Council
S. N. Molina - Spanish National Research Council
J. L. Gomez - Spanish National Research Council
V. M. Larionov - St Petersburg University
G. A. Borman - Crimean Astrophys Observ, Nauchny 98409, Crimea, Russia
A. A. Mokrushina - St Petersburg University
M. Tornikoski - Aalto University
A. Lahteenmaki - Aalto University
W. Chamani - Aalto University
S. Enestam - Aalto University
S. Kiehlmann - California Institute of Technology
T. Hovatta - University of Turku
P. S. Smith - University of Arizona
P. Pontrelli - University of California, Santa Cruz
VERITAS Collaboration
Publication Details: The Astrophysical journal, v 856(2), p95
Publisher: Iop Publishing Ltd
Number of pages: 14
Grant note: NNX08AW31G; NNX11A043G; NNX14AQ89G / NASA; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) Ramon y Cajal grant of the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) of Spain 1402740 / Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS) NSERC in Canada; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) 05.Y09.21.0018 / government of the Russian Federation 274477; 284495 / Academy of Finland Alexander von Humboldt Foundation AST-0808050; AST-1109911 / NSF; National Science Foundation (NSF) 1505811 / Division Of Physics; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS) P09-FQM-4784 / Regional Government of Andalucia; Junta de Andalucia NNX15AU81G / NASA Fermi Guest Investigator grant NNX15AU76G / NASA Fermi grant AYA2010-14844; AYA2013-40825-P; AYA2016-80889-P / MINECO; Spanish Government U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science; United States Department of Energy (DOE) 17-12-01029 / Russian Science Foundation; Russian Science Foundation (RSF) Smithsonian Institution 17-02-00197 / Russian Foundation for Basic Research; Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) U.S. National Science Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF) 80NSSC17K 0694 / NASA Fermi Guest Investigator Program
Resource Type: Journal article
Language: English
Academic Unit: Physics
Web of Science ID: WOS:000428685000008
Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85045568264
Other Identifier: 991019201364804721

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web of Science research areas: Astronomy & Astrophysics

Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar BL Lacertae: A New Fast TeV Gamma-Ray Flare

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