VHE gamma-ray detection of FSRQ QSO B1420+326 and modeling of its enhanced broadband state in 2020

Creators: Acciari, V. A.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A.; Arbet Engels, A.; Artero, M.; Asano, K.; Baack, D.; Babić, A.; Baquero, A.; Barres de Almeida, U.; Barrio, J. A.; Becerra González, J.; Bednarek, W.; Bellizzi, L.; Bernardini, E.; Bernardos, M.; Berti, A.; Besenrieder, J.; Bhattacharyya, W.; Bigongiari, C.; Biland, A.; Blanch, O.; Bonnoli, G.; Bošnjak, Ž.; Busetto, G.; Carosi, R.; Ceribella, G.; Cerruti, M.; Chai, Y.; Chilingarian, A.; Cikota, S.; Colak, S. M.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. L.; Cortina, J.; Covino, S.; D'Amico, G.; D'Elia, V.; Da Vela, P.; Dazzi, F.; De Angelis, A.; De Lotto, B.; Delfino, M.; Delgado, J.; Delgado Mendez, C.; Depaoli, D.; Di Pierro, F.; Di Venere, L.; Do Souto Espiñeira, E.; Dominis Prester, D.; Donini, A.; Dorner, D.; Doro, M.; Elsaesser, D.; Fallah Ramazani, V.; Fattorini, A.; Ferrara, G.; Foffano, L.; Fonseca, M. V.; Font, L.; Fruck, C.; Fukami, S.; García López, R. J.; Garczarczyk, M.; Gasparyan, S.; Gaug, M.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Gliwny, P.; Godinović, N.; Green, J. G.; Green, D.; Hadasch, D.; Hahn, A.; Heckmann, L.; Herrera, J.; Hoang, J.; Hrupec, D.; Hütten, M.; Inada, T.; Inoue, S.; Ishio, K.; Iwamura, Y.; Jormanainen, J.; Jouvin, L.; Kajiwara, Y.; Karjalainen, M.; Kerszberg, D.; Kobayashi, Y.; Kubo, H.; Kushida, J.; Lamastra, A.; Lelas, D.; Leone, F.; Lindfors, E.; Lombardi, S.; Longo, F.; López-Coto, R.; López-Moya, M.; López-Oramas, A.; Loporchio, S.; Machado de Oliveira Fraga, B.; Maggio, C.; Majumdar, P.; Makariev, M.; Mallamaci, M.; Maneva, G.; Manganaro, M.; Mannheim, K.; Maraschi, L.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mazin, D.; Mender, S.; Mićanović, S.; Miceli, D.; Miener, T.; Minev, M.; Miranda, J. M.; Mirzoyan, R.; Molina, E.; Moralejo, A.; Morcuende, D.; Moreno, V.; Moretti, E.; Neustroev, V.; Nigro, C.; Nilsson, K.; Ninci, D.; Nishijima, K.; Noda, K.; Nozaki, S.; Ohtani, Y.; Oka, T.; Otero-Santos, J.; Paiano, S.; Palatiello, M.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Paredes, J. M.; Pavletić, L.; Peñil, P.; Perennes, C.; Persic, M.; Prada Moroni, P. G.; Prandini, E.; Priyadarshi, C.; Puljak, I.; Rhode, W.; Ribó, M.; Rico, J.; Righi, C.; Rugliancich, A.; Saha, L.; Sahakyan, N.; Saito, T.; Sakurai, S.; Satalecka, K.; Saturni, F. G.; Schleicher, B.; Schmidt, K.; Schweizer, T.; Sitarek, J.; Šnidarić, I.; Sobczynska, D.; Spolon, A.; Stamerra, A.; Strom, D.; Strzys, M.; Suda, Y.; Surić, T.; Takahashi, M.; Tavecchio, F.; Temnikov, P.; Terzić, T.; Teshima, M.; Torres-Albà, N.; Tosti, L.; Truzzi, S.; Tutone, A.; van Scherpenberg, J.; Vanzo, G.; Vazquez Acosta, M.; Ventura, S.; Verguilov, V.; Vigorito, C. F.; Vitale, V.; Vovk, I.; Will, M.; Zarić, D.; Angioni, R.; D'Ammando, F.; Ciprini, S.; Cheung, C. C.; Orienti, M.; Pacciani, L.; Prajapati, P.; Kumar, P.; Ganesh, S.; Minev, M.; Kurtenkov, A.; Marchini, A.; Carrasco, L.; Escobedo, G.; Porras, A.; Recillas, E.; Lähteenmäki, A.; Tornikoski, M.; Berton, M.; Tammi, J.; Vera, R. J. C.; Jorstad, S. G.; Marscher, A. P.; Weaver, Z. R.; Hart, M.; Hallum, M. K.; Larionov, V. M.; Borman, G. A.; Grishina, T. S.; Kopatskaya, E. N.; Larionova, E. G.; Nikiforova, A. A.; Morozova, D. A.; Savchenko, S. S.; Troitskaya, Yu. V.; Troitsky, I. S.; Vasilyev, A. A.; Hodges, M.; Hovatta, T.; Kiehlmann, S.; Max-Moerbeck, W.; Readhead, A. C. S.; Reeves, R.; Pearson, T. J.; MAGIC Collaboration

Abstract

Context. QSO B1420+326 is a blazar classified as a flat-spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ). At the beginning of the year 2020, it was found to be in an enhanced flux state and an extensive multiwavelength campaign allowed us to trace the evolution of the flare. Aims. We search for very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from QSO B1420+326 during this flaring state. We aim to characterize and model the broadband emission of the source over different phases of the flare. Methods. The source was observed with a number of instruments in radio, near-infrared, optical (including polarimetry and spectroscopy), ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray bands. We use dedicated optical spectroscopy results to estimate the accretion disk and the dust torus luminosity. We performed spectral energy distribution modeling in the framework of combined synchrotron-self-Compton and external Compton scenario in which the electron energy distribution is partially determined from acceleration and cooling processes. Results. During the enhanced state, the flux of both SED components of QSO B1420+326 drastically increased and the peaks were shifted to higher energies. Follow-up observations with the MAGIC telescopes led to the detection of VHE gamma-ray emission from this source, making it one of only a handful of FSRQs known in this energy range. Modeling allows us to constrain the evolution of the magnetic field and electron energy distribution in the emission region. The gamma-ray flare was accompanied by a rotation of the optical polarization vector during a low -polarization state. Also, a new superluminal radio knot contemporaneously appeared in the radio image of the jet. The optical spectroscopy shows a prominent FeII bump with flux evolving together with the continuum emission and a MgII line with varying equivalent width.

Additional Information

© 2021 ESO. Received: 15 October 2020; Accepted: 18 December 2020; Published online 29 March 2021. We would like to dedicate this paper to the memory of our friend and colleague, Dr. Valeri Larionov (1950−2020), who enthusiastically contributed to this and many other projects aimed at understanding blazars. We would like to thank the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias for the excellent working conditions at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma. The financial support of the German BMBF and MPG; the Italian INFN and INAF; the Swiss National Fund SNF; the ERDF under the Spanish MINECO (FPA2017-87859-P, FPA2017-85668-P, FPA2017-82729-C6-2-R, FPA2017-82729-C6-6-R, FPA2017-82729-C6-5-R, AYA2015-71042-P, AYA2016-76012-C3-1-P, ESP2017-87055-C2-2-P, FPA2017-90566-REDC); the Indian Department of Atomic Energy; the Japanese ICRR, the University of Tokyo, JSPS, and MEXT; the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, National RI Roadmap Project DO1-268/16.12.2019 and the Academy of Finland grant nr. 320045 is gratefully acknowledged. This work was also supported by the Spanish Centro de Excelencia "Severo Ochoa" SEV-2016-0588 and SEV-2015-0548, the Unidad de Excelencia "María de Maeztu" MDM-2014-0369 and the "la Caixa" Foundation (fellowship LCF/BQ/PI18/11630012), by the Croatian Science Foundation (HrZZ) Project IP-2016-06-9782 and the University of Rijeka Project 13.12.1.3.02, by the DFG Collaborative Research Centers SFB823/C4 and SFB876/C3, the Polish National Research Centre grant UMO-2016/22/M/ST9/00382 and by the Brazilian MCTIC, CNPq and FAPERJ. The Fermi-LAT Collaboration acknowledges generous ongoing support from a number of agencies and institutes that have supported both the development and the operation of the LAT, as well as scientific data analysis. These include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Energy in the United States; the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules in France; the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Italy; the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Japan; and the K. A. Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, and the Swedish National Space Board in Sweden. Additional support for science analysis during the operations phase is gratefully acknowledged from the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica in Italy and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales in France. This work was performed in part under DOE Contract DE-AC02-76SF00515. This publication makes use of data obtained at the Metsähovi Radio Observatory, operated by Aalto University in Finland. This research has made use of data from the OVRO 40 m monitoring program Richards et al. (2011) which is supported in part by NASA grants NNX08AW31G, NNX11A043G, and NNX14AQ89G and NSF grants AST-0808050 and AST-1109911. This study was based in part on observations conducted using the 1.8 m Perkins Telescope Observatory (PTO) in Arizona, which is owned and operated by Boston University. The research at Boston University was supported in part by NASA Fermi GI program grants 80NSSC17K0649, 80NSSC19K1504, and 80NSSC19K1505. We thank the ASAS-SN team for making their data publicly available. The VLBA is an instrument of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated by Associated Universities, Inc. This work made use of the Lowell Discovery Telescope (formerly Discovery Channel Telescope) at Lowell Observatory. Lowell is a private, nonprofit institution dedicated to astrophysical research and public appreciation of astronomy and operates the LDT in partnership with Boston University, the University of Maryland, the University of Toledo, Northern Arizona University, and Yale University. We acknowledge support by Bulgarian National Science Fund under grant DN18-10/2017 and National RI Roadmap Projects DO1-277/16.12.2019 and DO1-268/16.12.2019 of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria.

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