Polarimetric Monitoring of Jets with Kanata Telescope

Ryosuke Itoh,Makoto Uemura,Yasushi Fukazawa,Koji Kawabata

doi:10.3390/galaxies6010016

Ryosuke Itoh, Makoto Uemura + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies6010016

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Journal: Galaxies	Publication Date: Jan 24, 2018
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Tokyo Institute of Technology, Hiroshima University

Abstract

The polarization of relativistic jets is of interest for the understanding of their origin, confinement, and propagation. However, even though numerous measurements have been performed, the mechanisms behind jet variability, creation, and composition are still debated. We have performed simultaneous gamma-ray and optical photopolarimetry observations of 45 blazars with the Kanata telescope since July 2008 to investigate the mechanisms of variability and search for a basic relation between the several subclasses of relativistic jets. Consequently, we found that a correlation between the gamma-ray and optical flux might be related to gamma-ray luminosity, and the maximum polarization degree might be related to gamma-ray luminosity or the ratio of gamma-ray to optical flux. These results imply that low gamma-ray luminosity blazars emit from multiple regions.

Highlights

A relativistic jet is an extremely powerful fast outflow of plasma that emerges from the vicinity of massive black holes
We have been performing simultaneous optical photopolarimetry observations of 45 active galactic nuclei (AGN) with the Kanata telescope since July 2008 in order to investigate the mechanisms of variability and search for a basic relation between several subclasses of blazars
We show recent results of polarimetric observations obtained by the Kanata telescope

Summary

Introduction

A relativistic jet is an extremely powerful fast outflow of plasma that emerges from the vicinity of massive black holes. Systematic study of this variability has been performed, with a focus on multi-wavelength and polarimetric observations among several subclasses of blazars (e.g., [1,2,3]). Reference [4] reported statistical photopolarimetric observations of blazars with a daily cadence using the Kanata telescope, and suggested that the lower luminosity and higher peak frequency of synchrotron radiation objects (such as HSP blazars) had smaller amplitudes of variation in flux, color, and polarization degree. We increased the number of observations and systematically searched for a common relationship between gamma-rays, optical flux, and polarization. We have been performing simultaneous optical photopolarimetry observations of 45 AGNs with the Kanata telescope since July 2008 in order to investigate the mechanisms of variability and search for a basic relation between several subclasses of blazars. Details of each observation are described in [5]

The Kanata Telescope and Observations of AGNs

Light Curves of AGNs

Findings

Discussion