Hiroshi Akitaya

Rapid variability of blazar 3C 279 during flaring states in 2013-2014 with joint FERMI-LAT, NuSTAR, SWIFT, and ground-based multi-wavelength observations

We report the results of a multiband observing campaign on the famous blazar 3C 279 conducted during a phase of increased activity from 2013 December to 2014 April, including first observations of it with NuSTAR. The gamma-ray emission of the source measured by Fermi-LAT showed multiple distinct flares reaching the highest flux level measured in this object since the beginning of the Fermi mission, with F(E > 100 MeV) of 10^(-5) photons cm^(-2) s^(-1), and with a flux-doubling time scale as short as 2 hr. The gamma-ray spectrum during one of the flares was very hard, with an index of Gamma(gamma) = 1.7 +/- 0.1, which is rarely seen in flat-spectrum radio quasars. The lack of concurrent optical variability implies a very high Compton dominance parameter L-gamma/L-syn > 300. Two 1 day NuSTAR observations with accompanying Swift pointings were separated by 2 weeks, probing different levels of source activity. While the 0.5 - 70 keV X-ray spectrum obtained during the first pointing, and fitted jointly with Swift-XRT is well-described by a simple power law, the second joint observation showed an unusual spectral structure: the spectrum softens by Delta Gamma(X) similar or equal to 0.4 at similar to 4 keV. Modeling the broadband spectral energy distribution during this flare with the standard synchrotron plus inverse-Compton model requires: (1) the location of the gamma-ray emitting region is comparable with the broad-line region radius, (2) a very hard electron energy distribution index p similar or equal to 1, (3) total jet power significantly exceeding the accretion-disk luminosity L-j/L-d greater than or similar to 10, and (4) extremely low jet magnetization with L-B/L-j less than or similar to 10^(-4). We also find that single-zone models that match the observed gamma-ray and optical spectra cannot satisfactorily explain the production of X-ray emission.

Polarization angle swings in blazars: The case of 3C 279

International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy; Universities of Bonn and Cologne; Academy of Finland project [274477]; NASA Fermi GI grant [NNX11AQ03G]; Russian Foundation for Basic Research [13-02-12103, 14-02-31789]; RFBR [12-02-01237a]; UNAM DGAPA-PAPIIT [IN116211-3]; Ramon y Cajal grant of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO); Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain); Regional Government of Andalucia (Spain) [AYA2010-14844, AYA2013-40825-P, P09-FQM-4784]; Fermi Guest Investigator [NNX08AW56G, NNX09AU10G, NNX12AO93G, NNX14AQ58G]; Russian RFBR [15-02-00949]; St. Petersburg University research [6.38.335.2015]; Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation [FR/638/6-320/12, 31/77]

OPTICAL AND NEAR-INFRARED POLARIMETRY OF HIGHLY REDDENED Type Ia SUPERNOVA 2014J: PECULIAR PROPERTIES OF DUST IN M82

We presented optical and near-infrared multi-band linear polarimetry of the highly reddened Type Ia SN~2014J appeared in M82. SN~2014J exhibits large polarization at shorter wavelengths, e.g.,

Kiso Supernova Survey (KISS) : Survey strategy

4.8

MINUTE-SCALE RAPID VARIABILITY OF THE OPTICAL POLARIZATION IN THE NARROW-LINE SEYFERT 1 GALAXY PMN J0948+0022

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The accreting black hole swift J1753.5-0127 from radio to hard x-ray

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DISCOVERY OF DRAMATIC OPTICAL VARIABILITY IN SDSS J1100+4421 : A PECULIAR RADIO-LOUD NARROW-LINE SEYFERT 1 GALAXY?

band, and the polarization decreases rapidly at longer wavelengths, with the position angle of the polarization remaining at approximately

SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF GAMMA-RAY-BRIGHT BLAZARS WITH OPTICAL POLARIZATION AND GAMMA-RAY VARIABILITY

40^{\circ}

Variable optical polarization during high state in γ-ray loud, narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0323+342

over the observed wavelength range. These polarimetric properties suggest that the observed polarization is likely to be caused predominantly by the interstellar dust within M82. Further analysis shows that the polarization peaks at a wavelengths much shorter than those obtained for the Galactic dust. The wavelength dependence of the polarization can be better described by an inverse power law rather than by Serkowski law for Galactic interstellar polarization. These suggests that the nature of the dust in M82 may be different from that in our Galaxy, with polarizing dust grains having a mean radius of

Correlation between Interstellar Polarization and Dust Temperature: Is the Alignment of Grains by Radiative Torques Ubiquitous?

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