Prajval Shastri

Optical and radio variability of the BL Lacertae object AO 0235+16: A possible 5-6 year periodicity

The BL Lacertae object AO 0235+16 is well known for its extreme optical and radio variability. New optical and radio data have been collected in the last four years by a wide international collaboration, which conrm the intense activity of this source: on the long term, overall variations of 5 mag in the R band and up to a factor 18 in the radio fluxes were detected, while short-term variability up to 0:5 mag in a few hours and 1: 3m ag in one day was observed in the optical band. The optical data also include the results of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) rst-light campaign organized in November 1997, involving a dozen optical observatories. The optical spectrum is observed to basically steepen when the source gets fainter. We have investigated the existence of typical variability time scales and of possible correlations between the optical and radio emissions by means of visual inspection and Discrete Correlation Function (DCF) analysis. On the long term, the autocorrelation function of the optical data shows a double-peaked maximum at 4100{4200 days (11:2{11:5 years), while a double-peaked maximum at 3900{4200 days (10:7{11:5 years) is visible in the radio autocorrelation functions. The existence of this similar characteristic time scale of variability in the two bands is by itself an indication of optical-radio correlation. A further analysis by means of Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) technique and folded light curves reveals that the major radio outbursts repeat quasi-regularly with a periodicity of5:7 years, i.e. half the above time scale. This period is also in agreement with the occurrence of some of the major optical outbursts, but not all of them. Visual inspection and DCF analysis of the optical and radio light curves then reveal that in some cases optical outbursts seem to be simultaneous with radio ones, but in other cases they lead the radio events. Moreover, a deep inspection of the radio light curves suggests that in at least two occasions (the 1992{1993 and 1998 outbursts) flux variations at the higher frequencies may have led those at the lower ones.

The WEBT campaign to observe AO 0235+16 in the 2003-2004 observing season. Results from radio-to-optical monitoring and XMM-Newton observations

A multiwavelength campaign to observe the BL Lac object AO 0235+16 (z = 0.94) was set up by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) collaboration during the observing seasons 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, involving radio, near-IR and optical photometric monitoring, VLBA monitoring, optical spectral monitoring, and three pointings by the XMM-Newton satellite. Here we report on the results of the first season, which involved the participation of 24 optical and near-IR telescopes and 4 radio telescopes, as well as the first XMM-Newton pointing, which occurred on January 18-19, 2004. Unpublished data from previous epochs were also collected (from 5 optical-NIR and 3 radio telescopes), in order to fill the gap between the end of the period presented in Raiteri et al. (2001) and the start of the WEBT campaign. The contribution of the southern AGN, 2 arcsec distant from the source, is taken into account. It is found to especially affect the blue part of the optical spectrum when the source is faint. In the optical and near-IR the source has been very active in the last 3 years, although it has been rather faint most of the time, with noticeable variations of more than a magnitude over a few days. In contrast, in the radio bands it appears to have been quiescent since early 2000. The major radio (and optical) outburst predicted to peak around February-March 2004 (with a six month uncertainty) has not occurred yet. When comparing our results with the historical light curves, two different behaviours seem to characterize the optical outbursts: only the major events present a radio counterpart. The X-ray spectra obtained by the three EPIC detectors are well fitted by a power law with extra-absorption at z = 0.524; the energy index in the 0.2-10 keV range is well constrained: a = 0.645 ± 0.028 and the 1 keV flux density is 0.311 ± 0.008 μJy. The analysis of the X-ray light curves reveals that no significant variations occurred during the pointing. In contrast, simultaneous dense radio monitoring with the 100 m telescope at Effelsberg shows a ∼2-3% flux decrease in 6-7 h, which, if intrinsic, would imply a brightness temperature well above the Compton limit and hence a lower limit to the Doppler factor 6 > 46.

Rotation Measures Across Parsec-Scale Jets of Fanaroff-Riley Type I Radio Galaxies

We present the results of a parsec-scale polarization study of three FRI radio galaxies—3C66B, 3C78, and 3C264—obtained with Very Long Baseline Interferometry at 5, 8, and 15 GHz. Parsec-scale polarization has been detected in a large number of beamed radio-loud active galactic nuclei, but in only a handful of the relatively unbeamed radio galaxies. We report here the detection of parsec-scale polarization at one or more frequencies in all three FRI galaxies studied. We detect Faraday rotation measures (RMs) of the order of a few hundred rad m–2 in the nuclear jet regions of 3C78 and 3C264. In 3C66B, polarization was detected at 8 GHz only. A transverse RM gradient is observed across the jet of 3C78. The inner-jet magnetic field, corrected for Faraday rotation, is found to be aligned along the jet in both 3C78 and 3C264, although the field becomes orthogonal further from the core in 3C78. The RM values in 3C78 and 3C264 are similar to those previously observed in nearby radio galaxies. The transverse RM gradient in 3C78, the increase in the degree of polarization at the jet edge, the large rotation in the polarization angles due to Faraday rotation, and the low depolarization between frequencies suggest that a layer surrounding the jet with a sufficient number of thermal electrons and threaded by a toroidal or helical magnetic field is a good candidate for the Faraday rotating medium. This suggestion is tentatively supported by Hubble Space Telescope optical polarimetry but needs to be examined in a greater number of sources.

Quasar X-ray spectra revisited

A sample of 45 quasars observed by the Imaging Proportional Counter (IPC) on the Einstein satellite is used to re-examine the relationship between the soft (0.2-3.5 keV) X-ray energy index and radio-loudness. We found the following: (1) the tendency for radio-loud quasars to have systematically flatter X-ray slopes than radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) is confirmed with the soft X-ray excess having negligible effect; (2) there is a tendency for the flatness of the X-ray slope to correlate with radio core-dominance for radio-loud quasars, suggesting that a component of the X-ray emission is relativistically beamed; (3) for the RQQs the soft X-ray slopes, with a mean of approximately 1.0, are consistent with the slopes found at higher energies (2-10 keV) although steeper than those observed for Seyfert 1 galaxies (also 2-10 keV) where the reflection model gives a good fit to the data; (4) the correlation of FeII emission line strength with X-ray energy index is confirmed for radio-quiet quasars using a subset of 18 quasars. The radio-loud quasars show no evidence for a correlation. This relation suggests a connection between the ionizing continuum and the line emission from the broad emission line region (BELR) of radio-quiet quasars, but in the opposite sense to that predicted by current photoionization models; and (5) the correlations of X-ray slope with radio core dominance and FeII equivalent width within the radio-loud and radio-quiet sub-classes respectively imply that the observed wide range of X-ray spectral slopes is real rather than due to the large measuring uncertainties for individual objects.

Optical nuclei of radio-loud AGN and the Fanaroff-Riley divide

We investigate the nature of the point-like optical nuclei t hat have been found in the centres of the host galaxies of a majority of radio galaxies by the Hubble Space Telescope. We examine the evidence that these optical nuclei are relativistically beamed, and look for differences in the behaviour of the nuclei found in radio galaxies of the two Fanaroff-Riley types. We also attempt to relate this behaviour to the properties of th e optical nuclei in their highly beamed counterparts (the BL Lac objects and radio-loud quasars) as hypothesized by the simple Unified Scheme. Simple model-fitting of the data suggests t hat the emission may be coming from a non-thermal relativistic jet. It is also suggestive that the contribution from an accre tion disk is not significant for the FRI objects and for the narrow- line radio galaxies of FRII type, while it may be significant f or the Broad-line objects, and consistent with the idea that the FRII optical nuclei seem to suffer from extinction due to an obscuring torus while the FRI optical nuclei do not. These results are broadly in agreement with the Unified Scheme for radio-loud AG Ns.

Milliarcsec-scale radio structure of a matched sample of Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies ⋆,⋆⋆

We have obtained mas-scale resolution very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) images of a sample of Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies at 5 GHz (wavelength, λ = 6 cm). The Seyferts of the two types were chosen to be matched in several orientation-independent properties, primarily in order to rigorously test predictions of the unified scheme. We detected all the 15 objects that we observed. In this paper we describe the observations and data reduction procedures, and present the VLBI radio images as well as simultaneous Very Large Array images that we obtained for these 15 Seyferts.

Probing the physics of narrow-line regions of Seyfert galaxies - I. The case of NGC 5427

Context. The spectra of the extended narrow-line regions (ENLRs) of Seyfert 2 galaxies probe the physics of the central active galaxy nucleus (AGN), since they encode the energy distribution of the ionising photons, the radiative flux and radiation pressure, nuclear chemical abundances and the mechanical energy input of the (unseen) central AGN. Aims. We aim to constrain the chemical abundance in the interstellar medium of the ENLR by measuring the abundance gradient in the circum-nuclear H ii regions to determine the nuclear chemical abundances, and to use these to in turn determine the EUV spectral energy distribution for comparison with theoretical models. Methods. We have used the Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) on the ANU 2.3 m telescope at Siding Spring to observe the nearby, nearly face-on, Seyfert 2 galaxy, NGC 5427. We have obtained integral field spectroscopy of both the nuclear regions and the H ii regions in the spiral arms. The observed spectra have been modelled using the MAPPINGS IV photoionisation code, both to derive the chemical abundances in the H ii regions and the Seyfert nucleus, and to constrain the EUV spectral energy distribution of the AGN illuminating the ENLR. Results. We find a very high nuclear abundance, 3.0 times solar, with clear evidence of a nuclear enhancement of N and He, possibly caused by massive star formation in the extended (∼100 pc) central disk structure. The circum-nuclear narrow-line region spectrum is fit by a radiation pressure dominated photoionisation model model with an input EUV spectrum from a Black – .

Parsec-scale Magnetic-Field Structures in HEAO-1 BL Lacs

We present very long baseline interferometry polarization images of an X-ray selected sample of BL Lacertae objects belonging to the first High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO-1) and the ROSAT–Green Bank (RGB) surveys. These are primarily high-energy-peaked BL Lacs (HBLs) and exhibit core-jet radio morphologies on pc-scales. They show moderately polarized jet components, similar to those of low-energy-peaked BL Lacs (LBLs). The fractional polarization in the unresolved cores of the HBLs is, on average, lower than in the LBLs, while the fractional polarizations in the pc-scale jets of HBLs and LBLs are comparable. However a difference is observed in the orientation of the inferred jet magnetic fields – while LBL jets are wellknown to preferentially exhibit transverse magnetic fields, the HBL jets tend to display longitudinal magnetic fields. Although a ‘spine-sheath’ jet velocity structure, along with larger viewing angles for HBLs could produce the observed magnetic field configuration, differences in other properties of LBLs and HBLs, such as their total radio power, cannot be fully reconciled with the different-angle scenario alone. Instead it appears that LBLs and HBLs differ intrinsically, perhaps in the spin rates of their central black holes.

SEYFERT GALAXIES: NUCLEAR RADIO STRUCTURE AND UNIFICATION

A radio study of a carefully selected sample of 20 Seyfert galaxies that are matched in orientation-independent parameters, which are measures of intrinsic active galactic nucleus power and host galaxy properties, is presented to test the predictions of the unified scheme hypothesis. Our sample sources have core flux densities greater than 8 mJy at 5 GHz on arcsec scales due to the feasibility requirements. These simultaneous parsec-scale and kiloparsec-scale radio observations reveal (1) that Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies have an equal tendency to show compact radio structures on milliarcsecond scales, (2) the distributions of parsec-scale and kiloparsec-scale radio luminosities are similar for both Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies, (3) there is no evidence for relativistic beaming in Seyfert galaxies, (4) similar distributions of source spectral indices in spite of the fact that Seyferts show nuclear radio flux density variations, and (5) the distributions of the projected linear size for Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies are not significantly different as would be expected in the unified scheme. The latter could be mainly due to a relatively large spread in the intrinsic sizes. We also find that a starburst alone cannot power these radio sources. Finally, an analysis of the kiloparsec-scale radio properties of the CfA Seyfert galaxy sample shows results consistent with the predictions of the unified scheme.

Probing the Physics of Narrow Line Regions in Active Galaxies. II. The Siding Spring Southern Seyfert Spectroscopic Snapshot Survey (S7)

Here we describe the \emph{Siding Spring Southern Seyfert Spectroscopic Snapshot Survey} (S7) and present results on 64 galaxies drawn from the first data release. The S7 uses the Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) mounted on the ANU 2.3m telescope located at the Siding Spring Observatory to deliver an integral field of