High-resolution polarization imaging of the Fermi blazar 3C 279
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Accepted manuscript
Date
2017-12-12
Authors
Rani, Bindu
Jorstad, Svetlana G.
Marscher, Alan P.
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
Bindu Rani, S Jorstad, AP Marscher. 2017. "High-resolution polarization imaging of the Fermi blazar 3C 279." Proceedings of 7th International Fermi Symposium — PoS(IFS2017), https://doi.org/10.22323/1.312.0020
Abstract
Ever since the discovery by the Fermi mission that active galactic nuclei (AGN) produce copious
amounts of high-energy emission, its origin has remained elusive. Using high-frequency radio
interferometry (VLBI) polarization imaging, we could probe the magnetic field topology of the
compact high-energy emission regions in blazars. A case study for the blazar 3C 279 reveals
the presence of multiple g -ray emission regions. Pass 8 Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) data
are used to investigate the flux variations in the GeV regime; six g -ray flares were observed in
the source during November 2013 to August 2014. We use the 43 GHz VLBI data to study
the morphological changes in the jet. Ejection of a new component (NC2) during the first three
g -ray flares suggests the VLBI core as the possible site of the high-energy emission. A delay
between the last three flares and the ejection of a new component (NC3) indicates that highenergy
emission in this case is located upstream of the 43 GHz core (closer to the black hole).
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International