Rapid and multiband variability of the TeV bright active nucleus of the galaxy IC 310

Aleksie J, Antonelli LA, Antoranz P, Babic A, De Almeida UB, Barrio JA, Becerra Gonzalez J, Bednarek W, Berger K, Bernardini E, Biland A, Blanch O, Bock RK, Boller A, Bonnefoy S, Bonnoli G, Tridon DB, Borracci F, Bretz T, Carmona E, Carosi A, Carreto Fidalgo D, Colin P, Colombo E, Contreras JL, Cortina J, Cossio L, Covino S, Da Vela P, Dazzi F, De Angelis A, De Caneva G, Delgado Mendez C, De Lotto B, Doert M, Dominguez A, Dominis Prester D, Dorner D, Doro M, Eisenacher D, Elsaesser D, Farina EP, Ferenc D, Fonseca MV, Font L, Fruck C, Garcia Lopez RJ, Garczarczyk M, Terrats DG, Gaug M, Giavitto G, Godinovic N, Gonzalez Munoz A, Gozzini SR, Hadamek A, Hadasch D, Haefner D, Herrero A, Hose J, Hrupec D, Idec W, Kadenius V, Knoetig ML, Kraehenbuehl T, Krause J, Kushida J, La Barbera A, Lelas D, Lewandowska N, Lindfors E, Lombardi S, Lopez-Coto R, Lopez M, Lopez-Oramas A, Lorenz E, Lozano I, Makariev M, Mallot K, Maneva G, Mankuzhiyil N, Mannheim K, Maraschi L, Marcote B, Mariotti M, Martinez M, Masbou J, Mazin D, Meucci M, Miranda JM, Mirzoyan R, Moldon J, Moralejo A, Munar-Adrover P, Nakajima D, Niedzwiecki A, Nilsson K, Nowak N, Orito R, Overkemping A, Paiano S, Palatiello M, Paneque D, Paoletti R, Paredes JM, Partini S, Persic M, Prada F, Pradamoroni PG, Prandini E, Preziuso S, Puljak I, Reichardt I, Reinthal R, Rhode W, Ribo M, Rico J, Ruegamer S, Saggion A, Saito K, Saito TY, Salvati M, Satalecka K, Scalzotto V, Scapin V, Schultz C, Schweizer T, Shore SN, Sillanpaeae A, Sitarek J, Snidaric I, Sobczynska D, Spanier F, Spiro S, Stamatescu V, Stamerra A, Steinke B, Storz J, Sun S, Suric T, Takalo L, Takami H, Tavecchio F, Temnikov P, Terzic T, Tescaro D, Teshima M, Thaele J, Tibolla O, Torres DF, Toyama T, Treves A, Uellenbeck M, Vogler P, Wagner RM, Weitzel Q, Zandanel F, Zanin R, Dauser T, Fortin P, Kadler M, Krauss F, Wilbert S, Wilms J (2014)

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2014

Journal

Publisher: EDP SCIENCES S A

Book Volume: 563

Article Number: ARTN A91

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201321938

Abstract

Context. The radio galaxy IC 310 has recently been identified as a gamma-ray emitter based on observations at GeV energies with Fermi-LAT and at very high energies (VHE, E > 100 GeV) with the MAGIC telescopes. Originally classified as a head-tail radio galaxy, the nature of this object is subject of controversy since its nucleus shows blazar-like behavior.Aims. To understand the nature of IC310 and the origin of the VHE emission, we studied the spectral and flux variability of IC 310 from the X-ray band to the VHE gamma-ray regime.Methods. The light curve of IC310 above 300GeV has been measured with the MAGIC telescopes from 2009 October to 2010 February. Contemporaneous Fermi-LAT data (2008-2011) in the 10-500 GeV energy range were also analyzed. In the X-ray regime, archival observations from 2003 to 2007 with XMM-Newton, Chandra, and Swift-XRT in the 0.5-10 keV band were studied.Results. The VHE light curve reveals several high-amplitude and short-duration flares. Day-to-day flux variability is clearly present (>5 sigma). The photon index between 120 GeV and 8 TeV remains at the value Gamma similar to 2.0 during both low and high flux states. The VHE spectral shape does not show significant variability, whereas the flux at 1 TeV changes by a factor of similar to 7. Fermi-LAT detected only eight gamma-ray events in the energy range 10 GeV-500 GeV in three years of observation. The measured photon index of Gamma = 1.3 +/- 0.5 in the Fermi-LAT range is very hard. The X-ray measurements show strong variability in both flux and photon index. The latter varied from 1.76 +/- 0.07 to 2.55 +/- 0.07.Conclusions. The rapid variability measured in gamma-rays and X-rays confirms the blazar-like behavior of IC310. The multi-TeV gamma-ray emission seems to originate from scales of less than 80 Schwarzschild radii (for a black hole mass of 2 x 10(8) M-circle dot) within the compact core of its FR I radio jet with orientation angle 10 degrees-38 degrees. The spectral energy distribution resembles that of an extreme blazar, albeit the luminosity is more than two orders of magnitude lower.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

University of Lodz / Uniwersytet Łódzki Poland (PL) Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) Spain (ES) Institut de Fisica d'Altes Energies (IFAE) / The Institute for High Energy Physics Spain (ES) National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF) Italy (IT) University of Turku / Turun yliopisto Finland (FI) Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Germany (DE) Sveučilište u Rijeci / University of Rijeka Croatia (HR) Kyoto University / 京都大学 Kyōto daigaku Japan (JP) Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut, MPP) / Max Planck Institute for Physics Germany (DE) École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Switzerland (CH) Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) Spain (ES) Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) Spain (ES) Technische Universität Dortmund Germany (DE) University of Padua / Universita degli Studi di Padova Italy (IT) Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia / Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) Spain (ES) University of Udine / Università degli Studi di Udine Italy (IT) Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY Germany (DE) Università degli Studi di Siena (UNISI) / University of Siena Italy (IT) Institute for Nuclear Researches and Nuclear Energy (INRNE) / Институт за ядрени изследвания и ядрена енергетика (ИЯИЯЕ) Bulgaria (BG) Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT) Spain (ES) University of Pisa / Università di Pisa (UniPi) Italy (IT) Universitat de Barcelona (UB) / University of Barcelona Spain (ES) University of Insubria / Università degli Studi dell'Insubria Italy (IT) Harvard University United States (USA) (US) Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) / Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Spain (ES)

How to cite

APA:

Aleksie, J., Antonelli, L.A., Antoranz, P., Babic, A., De Almeida, U.B., Barrio, J.A.,... Wilms, J. (2014). Rapid and multiband variability of the TeV bright active nucleus of the galaxy IC 310. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 563. https://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201321938

MLA:

Aleksie, J., et al. "Rapid and multiband variability of the TeV bright active nucleus of the galaxy IC 310." Astronomy & Astrophysics 563 (2014).

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