EVIDENCE FOR TWO LOGNORMAL STATES IN MULTI-WAVELENGTH FLUX VARIATION OF FSRQ PKS 1510-089

ABSTRACT We present a systematic characterization of multi-wavelength emission from blazar PKS 1510-089 using well-sampled data at near-infrared (NIR), optical, X-ray, and γ-ray energies. The resulting flux distributions, except at X-rays, show two distinct lognormal profiles corresponding to a high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astrophysical journal. Letters 2016-05, Vol.822 (1), p.L13-L13
Main Authors: Kushwaha, Pankaj, Chandra, Sunil, Misra, Ranjeev, Sahayanathan, S., Singh, K. P., Baliyan, K. S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACCELERATION
acceleration of particles
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
Blazars
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DISPERSIONS
DISTRIBUTION
EMISSION
ENERGY DEPENDENCE
ENERGY SPECTRA
Flux
GALAXIES
galaxies: active
galaxies: jets
GAMMA RADIATION
gamma rays: galaxies
Infrared spectroscopy
Lorentz factor
NEAR INFRARED RADIATION
QUASARS
quasars: individual (PKS 1510-089)
radiation mechanisms: non-thermal
Spectra
Thermal emission
VISIBLE RADIATION
WAVELENGTHS
X RADIATION
X rays
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Summary:ABSTRACT We present a systematic characterization of multi-wavelength emission from blazar PKS 1510-089 using well-sampled data at near-infrared (NIR), optical, X-ray, and γ-ray energies. The resulting flux distributions, except at X-rays, show two distinct lognormal profiles corresponding to a high and a low flux level. The dispersions exhibit energy-dependent behavior except in the LAT γ-ray and optical B-band. During the low level flux states, it is higher toward the peak of the spectral energy distribution, with γ-ray being intrinsically more variable followed by IR and then optical, consistent with mainly being a result of varying bulk Lorentz factor. On the other hand, the dispersions during the high state are similar in all bands except the optical B-band, where thermal emission still dominates. The centers of distributions are a factor of ∼4 apart, consistent with anticipation from studies of extragalactic γ-ray background with the high state showing a relatively harder mean spectral index compared to the low state.
ISSN:2041-8205
2041-8213
DOI:10.3847/2041-8205/822/1/L13