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Jorstad SG, Marscher AP, Raiteri CM, Villata M, Weaver ZR, Zhang H, Dong L, Gómez JL, Perel MV, Savchenko SS, Larionov VM, Carosati D, Chen WP, Kurtanidze OM, Marchini A, Matsumoto K, Mortari F, Aceti P, Acosta-Pulido JA, Andreeva T, Apolonio G, Arena C, Arkharov A, Bachev R, Banfi M, Bonnoli G, Borman GA, Bozhilov V, Carnerero MI, Damljanovic G, Ehgamberdiev SA, Elsässer D, Frasca A, Gabellini D, Grishina TS, Gupta AC, Hagen-Thorn VA, Hallum MK, Hart M, Hasuda K, Hemrich F, Hsiao HY, Ibryamov S, Irsmambetova TR, Ivanov DV, Joner MD, Kimeridze GN, Klimanov SA, Knött J, Kopatskaya EN, Kurtanidze SO, Kurtenkov A, Kuutma T, Larionova EG, Leonini S, Lin HC, Lorey C, Mannheim K, Marino G, Minev M, Mirzaqulov DO, Morozova DA, Nikiforova AA, Nikolashvili MG, Ovcharov E, Papini R, Pursimo T, Rahimov I, Reinhart D, Sakamoto T, Salvaggio F, Semkov E, Shakhovskoy DN, Sigua LA, Steineke R, Stojanovic M, Strigachev A, Troitskaya YV, Troitskiy IS, Tsai A, Valcheva A, Vasilyev AA, Vince O, Waller L, Zaharieva E, Chatterjee R. Rapid quasi-periodic oscillations in the relativistic jet of BL Lacertae. Nature 2022; 609:265-268. [PMID: 36071186 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05038-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Blazars are active galactic nuclei (AGN) with relativistic jets whose non-thermal radiation is extremely variable on various timescales1-3. This variability seems mostly random, although some quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs), implying systematic processes, have been reported in blazars and other AGN. QPOs with timescales of days or hours are especially rare4 in AGN and their nature is highly debated, explained by emitting plasma moving helically inside the jet5, plasma instabilities6,7 or orbital motion in an accretion disc7,8. Here we report results of intense optical and γ-ray flux monitoring of BL Lacertae (BL Lac) during a dramatic outburst in 2020 (ref. 9). BL Lac, the prototype of a subclass of blazars10, is powered by a 1.7 × 108 MSun (ref. 11) black hole in an elliptical galaxy (distance = 313 megaparsecs (ref. 12)). Our observations show QPOs of optical flux and linear polarization, and γ-ray flux, with cycles as short as approximately 13 h during the highest state of the outburst. The QPO properties match the expectations of current-driven kink instabilities6 near a recollimation shock about 5 parsecs (pc) from the black hole in the wake of an apparent superluminal feature moving down the jet. Such a kink is apparent in a microwave Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) image.
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Affiliation(s)
- S G Jorstad
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. .,Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia.
| | - A P Marscher
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - C M Raiteri
- INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - M Villata
- INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Z R Weaver
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - H Zhang
- NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, Greenbelt, MD, USA.,NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - L Dong
- Department of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - J L Gómez
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Granada, Spain
| | - M V Perel
- St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - S S Savchenko
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia.,Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnii Arkhyz, Russia.,Pulkovo Observatory, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - V M Larionov
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia.,Pulkovo Observatory, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - D Carosati
- EPT Observatories, Tijarafe, La Palma, Spain.,INAF, TNG Fundación Galileo Galilei, La Palma, Spain
| | - W P Chen
- Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - O M Kurtanidze
- Abastumani Observatory, Mt. Kanobili, Abastumani, Georgia.,Engelhardt Astronomical Observatory, Kazan Federal University, Tatarstan, Russia.,Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Landessternwarte, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - A Marchini
- Astronomical Observatory, Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - K Matsumoto
- Astronomical Institute, Osaka Kyoiku University, Kashiwara, Japan
| | | | - P Aceti
- Osservatorio Astronomico Città di Seveso, Seveso, Italy.,Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - J A Acosta-Pulido
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and Dpto. de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
| | - T Andreeva
- Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - G Apolonio
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA
| | - C Arena
- Gruppo Astrofili Catanesi (GAC), Catania, Italy
| | - A Arkharov
- Pulkovo Observatory, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - R Bachev
- Institute of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - M Banfi
- Osservatorio Astronomico Città di Seveso, Seveso, Italy
| | - G Bonnoli
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Granada, Spain.,Astronomical Observatory, Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.,INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Merate, Italy
| | - G A Borman
- Crimean Astrophysical Observatory RAS, Bakhchisaray, Crimea
| | - V Bozhilov
- Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - M I Carnerero
- INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Torino, Italy
| | | | - S A Ehgamberdiev
- Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.,National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| | - D Elsässer
- Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte, Naturwissenschaftliches Labor für Schüler am FKG, Würzburg, Germany.,Department of Physics, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany
| | - A Frasca
- INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Catania, Italy
| | | | - T S Grishina
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - A C Gupta
- Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital, India
| | - V A Hagen-Thorn
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - M K Hallum
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - M Hart
- Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - K Hasuda
- Department of Physical Sciences, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - F Hemrich
- Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte, Naturwissenschaftliches Labor für Schüler am FKG, Würzburg, Germany
| | - H Y Hsiao
- Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - S Ibryamov
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Shumen, Shumen, Bulgaria
| | - T R Irsmambetova
- Sternberg Astronomical Institute, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - D V Ivanov
- Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - M D Joner
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA
| | - G N Kimeridze
- Abastumani Observatory, Mt. Kanobili, Abastumani, Georgia
| | | | - J Knött
- Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte, Naturwissenschaftliches Labor für Schüler am FKG, Würzburg, Germany
| | - E N Kopatskaya
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - S O Kurtanidze
- Abastumani Observatory, Mt. Kanobili, Abastumani, Georgia.,Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Landessternwarte, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - A Kurtenkov
- Institute of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - T Kuutma
- Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón, Teruel, Spain
| | - E G Larionova
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - S Leonini
- Montarrenti Observatory, Siena, Italy
| | - H C Lin
- Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - C Lorey
- Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte, Naturwissenschaftliches Labor für Schüler am FKG, Würzburg, Germany
| | - K Mannheim
- Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte, Naturwissenschaftliches Labor für Schüler am FKG, Würzburg, Germany.,Lehrstuhl für Astronomie, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - G Marino
- Gruppo Astrofili Catanesi (GAC), Catania, Italy.,Wild Boar Remote Observatory, Florence, Italy
| | - M Minev
- Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | | | - D A Morozova
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - A A Nikiforova
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia.,Pulkovo Observatory, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - M G Nikolashvili
- Abastumani Observatory, Mt. Kanobili, Abastumani, Georgia.,Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Landessternwarte, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - E Ovcharov
- Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - R Papini
- Wild Boar Remote Observatory, Florence, Italy
| | - T Pursimo
- Nordic Optical Telescope, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - I Rahimov
- Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - D Reinhart
- Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte, Naturwissenschaftliches Labor für Schüler am FKG, Würzburg, Germany
| | - T Sakamoto
- Department of Physical Sciences, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - F Salvaggio
- Gruppo Astrofili Catanesi (GAC), Catania, Italy.,Wild Boar Remote Observatory, Florence, Italy
| | - E Semkov
- Institute of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | | | - L A Sigua
- Abastumani Observatory, Mt. Kanobili, Abastumani, Georgia
| | - R Steineke
- Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte, Naturwissenschaftliches Labor für Schüler am FKG, Würzburg, Germany
| | - M Stojanovic
- Astronomical Observatory Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - A Strigachev
- Institute of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Y V Troitskaya
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - I S Troitskiy
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - A Tsai
- Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - A Valcheva
- Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - A A Vasilyev
- Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - O Vince
- Astronomical Observatory Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - L Waller
- Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte, Naturwissenschaftliches Labor für Schüler am FKG, Würzburg, Germany
| | - E Zaharieva
- Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - R Chatterjee
- Department of Physics, Presidency University, Kolkata, India
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