Intra-night optical polarization monitoring of blazars
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2025
Blazars are known for their extreme variability across the electromagnetic spectrum. Variability at very short timescales can allow us to discriminate between competing models. This is particularly true for polarization variability, which allows us to probe particle acceleration and high-energy emission models in blazars. Here we present results from the first pilot study of intra-night optical polarization monitoring conducted using RoboPol at the Skinakas Observatory; these results are supplemented by observations from the Calar Alto, Perkins, and Sierra Nevada observatories. Our results show that while variability patterns can vary widely between sources, variability on timescales as short as minutes is prevalent in blazar jets. The amplitudes of the variations are typically small, a few percent for the polarization degree and less than 20° for the polarization angle, pointing to a significant contribution to the optical emission from a turbulent magnetic field component. The overall stability of the polarization angle over time points to a preferred magnetic field orientation.
relativistic processes
BL Lacertae objects: general
galaxies: active
galaxies: jets
polarization
Författare
Aristeidis Polychronakis
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
Panepistimio Kritis
I. Liodakis
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
Anastasia Glykopoulou
Panepistimio Kritis
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
D. Blinov
Panepistimio Kritis
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
I. Agudo
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
S.G. Jorstad
Saint Petersburg State University - Spsu
Boston University
Beatriz Agís-González
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
Sara Capecchiacci
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
Panepistimio Kritis
Alberto Floris
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
Panepistimio Kritis
Sebastian Kielhmann
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
J. A. Kypriotakis
Panepistimio Kritis
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
Dimitrios A. Langis
Panepistimio Kritis
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
N. Mandarakas
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
Idryma Technologias kai Erevnas (FORTH)
Panepistimio Kritis
Karan Pal
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen Nurnberg (FAU)
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik
Francisco J. Aceituno
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
G. Bonnoli
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Víctor Casanova
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
G. Emery
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Juan Escudero Pedrosa
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
J. Otero-Santos
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
D. Morcuende
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Alfredo Sota
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Vilppu Piirola
Turun Yliopisto
Astronomy and Astrophysics
0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)
Vol. 704 A311Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2025)
Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi
DOI
10.1051/0004-6361/202557558