The vanishing of the primary emission region in PKS 1510-089

Abstract

In July 2021, PKS 1510-089 exhibited a significant flux drop in the high-energy gamma-ray (by a factor 10) and optical (by a factor 5) bands and remained in this low state throughout 2022. Similarly, the optical polarization in the source vanished, resulting in the optical spectrum being fully explained through the steady flux of the accretion disk and the broad-line region. Unlike the aforementioned bands, the very-high-energy gamma-ray and X-ray fluxes did not exhibit a significant flux drop from year to year. This suggests that the steady-state very-high-energy gamma-ray and X-ray fluxes originate from a different emission region than the vanished parts of the high-energy gamma-ray and optical jet fluxes. The latter component has disappeared through either a swing of the jet away from the line-of-sight or a significant drop in the photon production efficiency of the jet close to the black hole. Either change could become visible in high-resolution radio images.

arXiv comment18 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables; accepted for publication in ApJ Letters; corresponding authors: Joleen Barnard, Markus Boettcher, Hester Schutte, Michael Zacharias

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