Long-term multi-band photometric monitoring of Mrk 501

Abstract

Radio-to-TeV observations of the bright nearby (z=0.034) blazar Markarian 501 (Mrk 501), performed from December 2012 to April 2018, are used to study the emission mechanisms in its relativistic jet. We examined the multi-wavelength variability and the correlations of the light curves obtained by eight different instruments, including the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT), observing Mrk 501 in very high-energy (VHE) gamma-rays at TeV energies. We identified individual TeV and X-ray flares and found a sub-day lag between variability in these two bands. Simultaneous TeV and X-ray variations with almost zero lag are consistent with synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission, where TeV photons are produced through inverse Compton scattering. The characteristic time interval of 5-25 days between TeV flares is consistent with them being driven by Lense-Thirring precession.

10 pages, 11 figures, Astronomy and astrophysics pre-print. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2101.10651

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• Long-term spectra of the blazars Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 at TeV energies seen by HAWC
• Not so Swift: 20 years of multiwavelength observations of Mrk 421 and Mrk 501
• About 300 days optical quasi-periodic oscillations in the long-term light curves of the blazar PKS 2155-304
• Different Jet Dissipation Mechanisms Underlying the Variability in Blazars