0000000000135428
AUTHOR
A. Kreikenbohm
The unusual multiwavelength properties of the gamma-ray source PMN J1603-4904
We investigate the nature and classification of PMNJ1603-4904, a bright radio source close to the Galactic plane, which is associated with one of the brightest hard-spectrum gamma-ray sources detected by Fermi/LAT. It has previously been classified as a low-peaked BL Lac object based on its broadband emission and the absence of optical emission lines. Optical measurements, however, suffer strongly from extinction and the absence of pronounced short-time gamma-ray variability over years of monitoring is unusual for a blazar. We are combining new and archival multiwavelength data in order to reconsider the classification and nature of this unusual gamma-ray source. For the first time, we stud…
Extended X-ray emission in PKS 1718-649
PKS 1718$-$649 is one of the closest and most comprehensively studied candidates of a young active galactic nucleus (AGN) that is still embedded in its optical host galaxy. The compact radio structure, with a maximal extent of a few parsecs, makes it a member of the group of compact symmetric objects (CSO). Its environment imposes a turnover of the radio synchrotron spectrum towards lower frequencies, also classifying PKS 1718$-$649 as gigahertz-peaked radio spectrum (GPS) source. Its close proximity has allowed the first detection of extended X-ray emission in a GPS/CSO source with Chandra that is for the most part unrelated to nuclear feedback. However, not much is known about the nature …
The TANAMI Multiwavelength Program: Dynamic spectral energy distributions of southern blazars
We thank the referee for helpful comments. We thank S. Cutini for her useful comments. We thank S. Markoff for helpful discussions. We thank J. Perkins, L. Baldini, and S. Digel for carefully reading the manuscript. We thank M. Buxton for her help with the SMARTS data. We acknowledge support and partial funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant WI 1860-10/1 (TANAMI) and GRK 1147, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt grants 50 OR 1311 and 50 OR 1103, and the Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics (HAP). This research was funded in part by NASA through Fermi Guest Investigator grants NNH09ZDA001N, NH10ZDA001N, NNH12ZDA001N, and NNH13ZDA001N-FERMI. This research was suppo…
ANTARES constrains a blazar origin of two IceCube PeV neutrino events
Abstract Context. The source(s) of the neutrino excess reported by the IceCube Collaboration is unknown. The TANAMI Collaboration recently reported on the multiwavelength emission of six bright, variable blazars which are positionally coincident with two of the most energetic IceCube events. Objects like these are prime candidates to be the source of the highest-energy cosmic rays, and thus of associated neutrino emission. Aims. We present an analysis of neutrino emission from the six blazars using observations with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Methods. The standard methods of the ANTARES candidate list search are applied to six years of data to search for an excess of muons and hence th…
TANAMI Blazars in the IceCube PeV Neutrino Fields
The IceCube Collaboration has announced the discovery of a neutrino flux in excess of the atmospheric background. Due to the steeply falling atmospheric background spectrum, events at PeV energies are most likely of extraterrestrial origin. We present the multiwavelength properties of the six radio brightest blazars positionally coincident with these events using contemporaneous data of the TANAMI blazar sample, including high-resolution images and spectral energy distributions. Assuming the X-ray to {\gamma}-ray emission originates in the photoproduction of pions by accelerated protons, the integrated predicted neutrino luminosity of these sources is large enough to explain the two detecte…
The Gamma-Ray Emitting Radio-Loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy PKS 2004-447 II. The Radio View
Gamma-ray detected radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 (g-NLS1) galaxies constitute a small but interesting sample of the gamma-ray loud AGN. The radio-loudest g-NLS1 known, PKS 2004-447, is located in the southern hemisphere and is monitored in the radio regime by the multiwavelength monitoring program TANAMI. We aim for the first detailed study of the radio morphology and long-term radio spectral evolution of PKS 2004-447, which are essential to understand the diversity of the radio properties of g-NLS1s. The TANAMI VLBI monitoring program uses the Australian Long Baseline Array (LBA) and telescopes in Antarctica, Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa to monitor the jets of radio-loud active …
Future mmVLBI Research with ALMA: a European vision
Very long baseline interferometry at millimetre/submillimetre wavelengths (mmVLBI) offers the highest achievable spatial resolution at any wavelength in astronomy. The anticipated inclusion of ALMA as a phased array into a global VLBI network will bring unprecedented sensitivity and a transformational leap in capabilities for mmVLBI. Building on years of pioneering efforts in the US and Europe the ongoing ALMA Phasing Project (APP), a US-led international collaboration with MPIfR-led European contributions, is expected to deliver a beamformer and VLBI capability to ALMA by the end of 2014 (APP: Fish et al. 2013, arXiv:1309.3519). This report focuses on the future use of mmVLBI by the intern…
Coincidence of a high-fluence blazar outburst with a PeV-energy neutrino event
The discovery of extraterrestrial very-high-energy neutrinos by the IceCube collaboration has launched a quest for the identification of their astrophysical sources. Gamma-ray blazars have been predicted to yield a cumulative neutrino signal exceeding the atmospheric background above energies of 100 TeV, assuming that both the neutrinos and the gamma-ray photons are produced by accelerated protons in relativistic jets. Since the background spectrum falls steeply with increasing energy, the individual events with the clearest signature of being of an extraterrestrial origin are those at PeV energies. Inside the large positional-uncertainty fields of the first two PeV neutrinos detected by Ic…
The gamma-ray emitting radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy PKS 2004-447 I. The X-ray View
As part of the TANAMI multiwavelength progam, we discuss new X-ray observations of the $\gamma$-ray and radio-loud Narrow Line Seyfert galaxy ($\gamma$-NLS1) PKS 2004-447. The active galaxy is a member of a small sample of radio-loud NLS1s detected in $\gamma$-rays by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. It is the radio-loudest and only southern-hemisphere source in this sample. We present results from our X-ray monitoring program comprised of Swift snapshot observations from 2012 through 2014 and two new X-ray observations with XMM-Newton in 2012. We analyze the X-ray spectrum and variability of this peculiar source using supplementary archival data from 2004 and 2011. The (0.5-10) keV spectrum…
TANAMI monitoring of Centaurus A: The complex dynamics in the inner parsec of an extragalactic jet
Centaurus A is the closest radio-loud active galaxy. Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) enables us to study the jet-counterjet system on milliarcsecond (mas) scales, providing essential information for jet emission and propagation models. We study the evolution of the central parsec jet structure of Cen A over 3.5 years. The proper motion analysis of individual jet components allows us to constrain jet formation and propagation and to test the proposed correlation of increased high energy flux with jet ejection events. Cen A is an exceptional laboratory for such detailed study as its proximity translates to unrivaled linear resolution, where 1 mas corresponds to 0.018 pc. The first 7 …
Dynamic SEDs of southern blazars - DSSB
The Dynamic SEDs of southern blazars catalog is based on a TANAMI multiwavelength project that has been monitoring a sample of 22 radio-loud blazars of the southern sky from radio to gamma-ray wavelengths. (4 data files). Simultaneous broadband spectral and temporal studies of blazars are an important tool for investigating active galactic nuclei (AGN) jet physics. Aims. We study the spectral evolution between quiescent and flaring periods of 22 radio-loud AGN through multiepoch, quasi-simultaneous broadband spectra. For many of these sources these are the first broadband studies. Methods. We use a Bayesian block analysis of Fermi/LAT light curves to determine time ranges of constant flux f…