A change in the optical polarization associated with a gamma-ray flare in the blazar 3C 279

Abstract

It is widely accepted that strong and variable radiation detected over all accessible energy bands in a number of active galaxies arises from a relativistic, Doppler-boosted jet pointing close to our line of sight. The size of the emitting zone and the location of this region relative to the central supermassive black hole are, however, poorly known, with estimates ranging from light-hours to a light-year or more. Here we report the coincidence of a gamma-ray flare with a dramatic change of optical polarization angle. This provides evidence for co-spatiality of optical and gamma-ray emission regions and indicates a highly ordered jet magnetic field. The results also require a non-axisymmetric structure of the emission zone, implying a curved trajectory for the emitting material within the jet, with the dissipation region located at a considerable distance from the black hole, at about 10^5 gravitational radii.

arXiv commentPublished in Nature issued on 18 February 2010. Corresponding authors: Masaaki Hayashida and Greg Madejski

References in corpus (14)

• The Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Mission
• AGN Black Hole Masses and Bolometric Luminosities
• Polarimetric Observations of 15 Active Galactic Nuclei at High Frequencies: Jet Kinematics from Bimonthly Monitoring with the Very Long Baseline Array
• Very-High-Energy Gamma Rays from a Distant Quasar: How Transparent Is the Universe?
• Constraining Emission Models of Luminous Blazar Sources
• Polarization of prompt GRB emission: evidence for electromagnetically-dominated outflow
• Multiwavelength Observations of a Dramatic High Energy Flare in the Blazar 3C 279
• Early Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Observations of the Quasar 3C 454.3
• Results of WEBT, VLBA and RXTE monitoring of 3C 279 during 2006-2007
• Ultraviolet and Multiwavelength Variability of the Blazar 3C 279: Evidence for Thermal Emission
• The correlated optical and radio variability of BL Lacertae. WEBT data analysis 1994-2005
• Simultaneous Radio to (Sub-) mm-Monitoring of Variability and Spectral Shape Evolution of potential GLAST Blazars
• PKS 1510-089: A Head-On View of a Relativistic Jet
• The Host Galaxy of 3C 279

Cited by in corpus (223)

• The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Mission
• The Second Catalog of Active Galactic Nuclei Detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• Blazars in the Fermi Era: The OVRO 40-m Telescope Monitoring Program
• Turbulent, Extreme Multi-Zone Model for Simulating Flux and Polarization Variability in Blazars
• Gamma-ray Light Curves and Variability of Bright Fermi-Detected Blazars
• Flaring Behavior of the Quasar 3C~454.3 across the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Location of gamma-ray Flare Emission in the Jet of the BL Lacertae Object OJ287 more than 14pc from the Central Engine
• Blazar spectral variability as explained by a twisting inhomogeneous jet
• Rapid Variability of Blazar 3C 279 during Flaring States in 2013-2014 with Joint Fermi-LAT, NuSTAR, Swift, and Ground-Based Multi-wavelength Observations
• The structure and emission model of the relativistic jet in the quasar 3C 279 inferred from radio to high-energy gamma-ray observations in 2008-2010
• The 2010 very high energy gamma-ray flare & 10 years of multi-wavelength observations of M 87
• Photopolarimetric Monitoring of Blazars in the Optical and Near-Infrared Bands with the Kanata Telescope. I. Correlations between Flux, Color, and Polarization
• Detection of significant cm to sub-mm band radio and gamma-ray correlated variability in Fermi bright blazars
• Time-correlation between the radio and gamma-ray activity in blazars and the production site of the gamma-ray emission
• Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Observations of Recent Gamma-ray Outbursts from 3C 454.3
• Long-term optical monitoring of TeV emitting Blazars
• RoboPol: The optical polarization of gamma-ray--loud and gamma-ray--quiet blazars
• RoboPol: First season rotations of optical polarization plane in blazars
• Radio to gamma-ray variability study of blazar S5 0716+714
• Equipartition Gamma-Ray Blazars and the Location of the Gamma-Ray Emission Site in 3C 279
• Search for the shortest variability at gamma rays in flat-spectrum radio quasars
• Three-Dimensional Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Current-Driven Instability. III. Rotating Relativistic Jets
• Constraining the Location of Gamma-Ray Flares in Luminous Blazars
• RoboPol: Connection between optical polarization plane rotations and gamma-ray flares in blazars
• RoboPol: optical polarization-plane rotations and flaring activity in blazars
• Gamma rays from the quasar PKS 1441+25: story of an escape
• MAGIC gamma-ray and multifrequency observations of flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 1510-089 in early 2012
• On the Spectral Break in the Fermi-LAT Spectrum of 3C 454.3
• Synchrotron Polarization in Blazars
• MAGIC observations and multiwavelength properties of the quasar 3C279 in 2007 and 2009
• Multi-wavelength observations of 3C 279 during the extremely bright gamma-ray flare in 2014 March-April
• Polarization Swings Reveal Magnetic Energy Dissipation in Blazars
• Active galactic nuclei at gamma-ray energies
• The connection between gamma-ray emission and millimeter flares in Fermi/LAT blazars
• Probing Acceleration and Turbulence at Relativistic Shocks in Blazar Jets
• POLAMI: Polarimetric Monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei at Millimetre Wavelengths. III. Characterisation of total flux density and polarisation variability of relativistic jets
• Signatures of large-scale magnetic fields in AGN jets: transverse asymmetries
• POLAMI: Polarimetric Monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei at Millimetre Wavelengths. I. The program, calibration, and calibrators data products
• Connection between optical and gamma-ray variability in blazars
• Multi-wavelength variability properties of Fermi blazar S5 0716+714
• A multi-wavelength polarimetric study of the blazar CTA 102 during a Gamma-ray flare in 2012
• The RoboPol optical polarization survey of gamma-ray - loud blazars
• Scientific Prospects for Hard X-ray Polarimetry
• The RoboPol Pipeline and Control System
• Limits on the extragalactic background light in the Fermi era
• Radio and gamma-ray follow-up of the exceptionally high activity state of PKS 1510-089 in 2011
• A 3.5mm Polarimetric Survey of Radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• Probing Blazar Emission Processes with Optical/Gamma-ray Flare Correlations
• Multifrequency Photo-polarimetric WEBT Observation Campaign on the Blazar S5 0716+714: Source Microvariability and Search for Characteristic Timescales
• RoboPol: A four-channel optical imaging polarimeter
• Exploring the blazar zone in High Energy flares of FSRQs
• Discovery of GeV Emission from the Circinus galaxy with the Fermi-LAT
• X-Ray Polarimetry with the Polarization Spectroscopic Telescope Array (PolSTAR)
• Kinetic study of radiation-reaction-limited particle acceleration during the relaxation of unstable force-free equilibria
• Contemporaneous VLBA 5 GHz Observations of LAT-Detected Blazars
• Radio-to-gamma-ray Monitoring of the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy PMN J0948+0022 from 2008 to 2011
• Multiwavelength Variability Signatures of Relativistic Shocks in Blazar Jets
• Multi-wavelength characterization of the blazar S5~0716+714 during an unprecedented outburst phase
• Another look at the BL Lacertae flux and spectral variability
• Probing dissipation mechanisms in BL Lac jets through X-ray polarimetry
• The RINGO2 and DIPOL Optical Polarisation Catalogue of Blazars
• A combined radio and GeV gamma-ray view of the 2012 and 2013 flares of Mrk 421
• Monitoring of the radio galaxy M87 during a low emission state from 2012 to 2015 with MAGIC
• Analytical Solution of Magnetically Dominated Astrophysical Jets and Winds: Jet Launching, Acceleration, and Collimation
• New constraints on the structure and dynamics of black hole jets
• Long-term monitoring of PKS 0537-441 with Fermi-LAT and multiwavelength observations
• Polarization Signatures of Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Shocks in the Blazar Emission Region - I. Force-free Helical Magnetic Fields
• Multifrequency Studies of the Peculiar Quasar 4C +21.35 During the 2010 Flaring Activity
• Long-term optical polarization variability and multiwavelength analysis of Blazar Mrk 421
• A Consolidated Framework of the Color Variability in Blazars: Long-Term Optical/Near-Infrared Observations of 3C 279
• Two Flares with One Shock: the Interesting Case of 3C 454.3
• Investigating powerful jets in radio-loud Narrow Line Seyfert 1s
• Polarization swings in blazars
• A peculiar multi-wavelength flare in the Blazar 3C 454.3
• Probing the Emission Mechanism and Magnetic Field of Neutrino Blazars with Multi-Wavelength Polarization Signatures
• Multiwavelength observations of the blazar BL Lacertae: a new fast TeV gamma-ray flare
• Multi-wavelength study of flaring activity in BL Lac object S5 0716+714 during 2015 outburst
• A recent change in the optical and γ-ray polarization of the Crab nebula and pulsar
• Polarization Signatures of Kink Instabilities in the Blazar Emission Region from Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations
• MAGIC observations and multifrequency properties of the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar 3C 279 in 2011
• A decade of multi-wavelength observations of the TeV blazar 1ES 1215+303: Extreme shift of the synchrotron peak frequency and long-term optical-gamma-ray flux increase
• Time series analysis of gamma-ray blazars and implications for the central black-hole mass
• The Most Intensive Gamma-Ray Flare of Quasar 3C 279 with the Second-Order Fermi Acceleration
• Synchrotron and inverse-Compton emission from blazar jets - IV. BL Lac type blazars and the physical basis for the blazar sequence
• Photon polarization and geometric phase in general relativity
• Minute-Scale Rapid Variability of Optical Polarization in Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy: PMN J0948+0022
• The F-GAMMA program: Multi-frequency study of Active Galactic Nuclei in the Fermi era. Program description and the first 2.5 years of monitoring
• A hard gamma-ray flare from 3C 279 in 2013 December
• VLBI and Single Dish Monitoring of 3C84 in the Period of 2009-2011
• Very High Energy outburst of Markarian 501 in May 2009
• Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma-ray Bright AGNs I: Results of Single-epoch Multifrequency Observations
• Radio-Optical-Gamma-Ray properties of MOJAVE AGN detected by Fermi/LAT
• Collision-induced magnetic reconnection and a unified interpretation of polarization properties of GRBs and blazars
• Connecting steady emission and Very High Energy flaring states in blazars: the case of Mrk 421
• Radiation and Polarization Signatures of 3D Multi-zone Time-dependent Hadronic Blazar Model
• A new ordering parameter of spectral energy distributions from synchrotron-self-Compton emitting blazars
• Long-term optical polarization variability of the tev blazar 1es~1959+650
• Study on Temporal and Spectral behavior of 3C 279 during 2018 January flare
• Blazar Anti-Sequence of Spectral Variation within individual Blazars: Cases for Mrk 501 and 3C 279
• Polarimetry of optically selected BL Lac candidates from the SDSS
• Multiwavelength Photometric and Spectropolarimetric Analysis of the FSRQ 3C 279
• Flaring Patterns in Blazars
• Correlation between optical and $\gamma$-ray flux variations in bright flat spectrum radio quasars
• Multiwavelength variability power spectrum analysis of the blazars 3C 279 and PKS 1510-089 on multiple timescales
• Particle diffusion and localized acceleration in inhomogeneous AGN jets - Part II: stochastic variation
• 3C 279 in Outburst in June 2015: A Broadband-SED Study Based on the INTEGRAL Detection
• VLBA polarimetric monitoring of 3C 111
• Implications for the structure of the relativistic jet from multiwavelength observations of NGC 6251
• Monitoring of GAmma-ray Bright AGN : The Multi-frequency Polarization of the Flaring Blazar 3C 279
• Multi-epoch parsec-scale observations of the blazar PKS 1510-089
• High cadence, linear and circular polarization monitoring of OJ 287 - Helical magnetic field in a bent jet
• Probing shock acceleration in BL Lac jets through X-ray polarimetry: the time-dependent view
• Fast $\gamma$-ray variability in blazars beyond redsift 3
• GENJI Programme: Gamma-ray Emitting Notable AGN Monitoring by Japanese VLBI
• On the origin of the gamma-ray/optical lags in luminous blazars
• On proton synchrotron blazar models: the case of quasar 3C 279
• A Steady-State Spectral Model For Electron Acceleration And Cooling In Blazar Jets: Application To 3C 279
• Multi-waveband Emission Maps of Blazars
• Intra-night optical flux and polarization variability of BL~Lacertae during its 2020 $-$ 2021 high state
• The Bright $\gamma$-ray Flare of 3C 279 in June 2015: AGILE Detection and Multifrequency Follow-up Observations
• Discovery of a GeV blazar shining through the Galactic plane
• Probing the gamma-ray variability in 3C279 using broadband observations
• Insights into the emission of the blazar 1ES 1011+496 through unprecedented broadband observations during 2011 and 2012
• Partial covering of emission regions of Q 0528-250 by intervening H${}_2$ clouds
• Blazars at Very High Energies: Emission Modelling
• Detection of a gamma-ray flare from the high-redshift blazar DA 193
• MAPCAT: Monitoring AGN with Polarimetry at the Calar Alto Telescopes
• Multi-Wavelength Photometric and Polarimetric Observations of the Outburst of 3C 454.3 in Dec. 2009
• Characterization of Variability in Blazar Light curves
• No Evidence of Intrinsic Optical/Near-Infrared Linear Polarization for V404 Cygni During its Bright Outburst in 2015: Broadband Modeling and Constraint on Jet Parameters
• Multi-wavelength study of flaring activity in HBL 1ES 1959+650 during 2015-16
• Calibration of the Liverpool Telescope RINGO3 polarimeter
• 3C 286: a bright, compact, stable, and highly polarized calibrator for millimeter-wavelength observations
• Variable optical polarization during high state in gamma-ray loud narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0323+342
• Long-Term Multiwavelength Studies of High-Redshift Blazar 0836+710
• Studies of active galactic nuclei with CTA
• Polarization and photometric observations of the gamma-ray blazar PG 1553+113
• The Time-Dependent Distribution of Optical Polarization Angle Changes in Blazars
• Multi-wavelength variability of CGRaBS J0733+0456: identifying a distant $\gamma$-ray blazar at z = 3.01
• The Variable Optical Polarization and FERMI Observations of PMN J0948+0022
• Repeated pattern of gamma-ray flares in the lightcurve of the blazar 3C 279
• A Suzaku X-Ray Study of the Particle Acceleration Processes in the Relativistic Jet of Blazar Mrk 421
• Optical polarization variations in the blazar PKS 1749+096
• $Fermi$-LAT detection of a transient $\gamma$-ray source in the direction of a distant blazar B3 1428+422 at $z=4.72$
• The HAWC real-time flare monitor for rapid detection of transient events
• Dense optical and near-infrared monitoring of CTA 102 during high state in 2012 with OISTER: Detection of intra-night "orphan polarized flux flare"
• Correlation between optical flux and polarization variations in Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars on diverse timescales
• Polarimetric Tomography of Blazar Jets
• Multiwavelength Analysis of the Variability of the Blazar 3C 273
• The RoboPol Program: Optical Polarimetric Monitoring of Blazars
• Electromagnetic vs. Lense-Thirring alignment of black hole accretion discs
• Discovery of a wandering radio jet base after a large X-ray flare in the blazar Markarian 421
• Exploring the Variability of the Flat Spectrum Radio Source 1633+382. II: Physical Properties
• LAMP: a micro-satellite based soft X-ray polarimeter for astrophysics
• Liverpool Telescope 2: a new robotic facility for rapid transient follow-up
• High Energy Polarization of Blazars : Detection Prospects
• The variability of blazars throughout the electromagnetic spectrum
• Study of correlation between optical flux and polarization variations in BL Lac objects
• Optical variability power spectrum analysis of blazar sources on intranight timescales
• Constraints on black hole massess with timescales of variations in blazars
• Paving the way to simultaneous multi-wavelength astronomy
• 180${}^{\circ }$ Rotations in the Polarization Angle for Blazars
• Flux and Spectral Variation Characteristics of 3C 454.3 at the GeV Band
• Analyzing polarization swings in 3C 279
• Rotation of the optical polarization angle associated with the 2008 γ-ray flare of blazar w comae
• Locating positions of γ-ray--emitting regions in blazars
• Unusual Flaring Activity in the Blazar PKS 1424-418 during 2008-2011
• H.E.S.S. Monitoring of PKS 2155-304 in 2015 and 2016
• Deterministic Aspect of the $\gamma$-ray Variability in Blazars
• Optical polarisation variability of radio loud narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies. Search for long rotations of the polarisation plane
• Temporal variability and estimation of jet parameters for Ton 599
• Detecting the Elusive Blazar Counter-Jets
• Understanding the nature of the blazar CGRaBS~J0211$+$1051
• Monitoring of multi-frequency polarization of gamma-ray bright AGNs
• On leptonic models for blazars in the Fermi era
• Multifrequency polarimetry of High-Synchrotron Peaked blazars probes the shape of their jets
• Understanding the giant gamma-ray outburst on June 16, 2015 from the blazar 3C 279
• Revisiting radio variability of the blazar 3C 454.3
• Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar VER J0521+211 During an Elevated TeV Gamma-Ray State
• Optical polarimetric and multiwavelength flaring activity of blazar 3C279
• Intrinsic Brightness Temperature of Compact Radio Sources at 86 GHz
• On the Injection of Relativistic Electrons in the Jet of 3C 279
• Multiple inverse Compton scatterings and the blazar sequence
• Gamma-ray blazars: the view from AGILE
• A Study of the Long-term Spectral Variations of 3C 66A Observed with the Fermi and Kanata Telescopes
• Gamma-ray emission region located in the parsec scale jet of OJ287
• Probing Precise Location of Radio Core in TeV Blazar Mrk 501 with VERA at 43 GHz
• Spectral variability of the blazar 3C 279 in the optical to X-ray band during 2009-2018
• Time-Variable Linear Polarization as a Probe of the Physical Conditions in the Compact Jets of Blazars
• Location and origin of gamma-rays in blazars
• Long-term multi-wavelength variations of Fermi blazar 3C 279
• CMB-HD: An Ultra-Deep, High-Resolution Millimeter-Wave Survey Over Half the Sky
• ALMA full polarization observations of PKS1830-211 during its record-breaking flare of 2019
• Estimating the distribution of rest-frame timescales for blazar jets: a statistical approach
• Detections of simultaneous brightening of gamma-ray and optical emissions of a distant blazar GB 1508+5714 at redshift 4.3
• Six-year Optical Monitoring of BL Lacertae Object 1ES 0806+52.4
• Follow-up Observations for IceCube-170922A: Detection of Rapid Near-Infrared Variability and Intensive Monitoring of TXS 0506+056
• Revisiting Correlations Between Broad-Line and Jet Emission Variations for AGNs: 3C 120 and 3C 273
• Awakening of two $\gamma$-ray high redshift flat-spectrum radio quasars in the southern hemisphere
• Effect of a partial coverage of quasar broad-line regions by intervening H${}_2$-bearing clouds
• Multiwavelength analysis of brightness variations of 3C~279: Probing the relativistic jet structure and its evolution
• A numerical study on the role of instabilities on multi-wavelength emission signatures of blazar jets
• The mid-2016 flaring activity of the flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 2023-07
• Hints of correlation between broad-line and radio variations for 3C 120
• An emergence of new polarized emission region in blazar Mrk 421 associated with X-ray flare
• Blazar jet physics in the age of Fermi
• Hadronic jet models today
• The Method of Searching for Rotations of the Polarization Position Angle of Quasars
• Effects of non-continuous inverse Compton cooling in blazars
• The polarisation behaviour of OJ 287 viewed through radio, millimetre and optical observations between 2015 and 2017
• Insights into the Long-term behavior of the optical polarization from the blazar 1ES 1959+650
• Blazar Anti-Sequence of Spectral Variability for Individual TeV Blazars
• Multiple synchrotron self-Compton modeling of gamma-ray flares in 3C 279
• Gamma-ray flares from the jet of the blazar CTA 102 in 2016-2018
• Searches for very high energy gamma rays from blazars with CANGAROO-III telescope in 2005-2009
• Twenty years of blazar monitoring with the INAF radio telescopes
• Progress in Multiwavelength and Multi-Messenger Observations of Blazars and Theoretical Challenges
• Constraints on magnetic field and particle content in blazar jets through optical circular polarization
• e-ASTROGAM mission: a major step forward for gamma-ray polarimetry
• Observational View of Magnetic Fields in Active Galactic Nuclei Jets
• Relativistic Jets in Gamma-Ray-Emitting Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
• Probing Magnetic Fields and Acceleration Mechanisms in Blazar Jets with X-ray Polarimetry
• Peculiar Behavior of Optical Polarization in Blazar 1ES 1959+650: Role of Jet Magnetic Field and Geometry