Multiwavelength astrophysics of the blazar OJ 287 and the project MOMO

Abstract

We are carrying out the densest and longest multiyear, multiwavelength monitoring project of OJ 287 ever done. The project MOMO (Multiwavelength Observations and Modelling of OJ 287) covers wavelengths from the radio to the high-energy regime. A few selected observations are simultaneous with those of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). MOMO aims at understanding disk-jet physics and at testing predictions of the binary black hole scenario of OJ 287. Here, we present a discussion of extreme outburst and minima states in context, and then focus on the recent flux and spectral evolution between 2021 and May 2022, including an ongoing bright radio flare. Further, we show that there is no evidence for precursor flare activity in our optical-UV-X-ray light curves that would be associated with any secondary supermassive black hole (SMBH) disk impact and that was predicted to start as thermal flare on 2021 December 23.

Submitted to AN. Contribution to the XMM-Newton Workshop 2022 (Madrid, Spain). 5 figures

References in corpus (9)

• An online repository of Swift/XRT light curves of GRBs
• Incremental Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog
• Spitzer Observations of the Predicted Eddington Flare from Blazar OJ 287
• Location of Gamma-ray emission and magnetic field strengths in OJ 287
• X-ray spectral components of the blazar and binary black hole candidate OJ 287 (2005-2020)
• Unravelling the Innermost Jet Structure of OJ 287 with the First GMVA+ALMA Observations
• MOMO IV: The complete Swift X-ray and UV/optical light curve and characteristic variability of the blazar OJ 287 during the last two decades
• MOMO V. Effelsberg, Swift and Fermi study of the blazar and supermassive binary black hole candidate OJ 287 in a period of high activity
• NICER, NuSTAR, and Swift follow-up observations of the $\gamma$-ray flaring blazar BL Lacertae in 2020 August-October