Magnetic field strengths of the synchrotron self-absorption region in the jet of CTA 102 during radio flares

Kim, Sang-Hyun and Lee, Sang-Sung and Lee, Jee Won and Hodgson, Jeffrey A. and Kang, Sincheol and Algaba Marcos, Juan-Carlos and Kim, Jae-Young and Hodges, Mark and Agudo, Ivan and Fuentes, Antonio and Escudero, Juan and Myserlis, Ioannis and Traianou, Efthalia and Lahteenmaki, Anne and Tornikoski, Merja and Tammi, Joni and Ramakrishnan, Venkatessh and Jarvela, Emilia (2022) Magnetic field strengths of the synchrotron self-absorption region in the jet of CTA 102 during radio flares. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 510 (1). pp. 815-833. ISSN 0035-8711, DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3473.

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Abstract

CTA 102 is a blazar implying that its relativistic jet points towards Earth and emits synchrotron radiation produced by energetic particles gyrating in the magnetic field. This study aims to figure out the physical origins of radio flares in the jet, including the connection between the magnetic field and the radio flares. The data set in the range of 2.6-343.5 GHz was collected over a period of similar to 5.5 yr (2012 November 20-2018 September 23). During the data collection period, seven flares at 15 GHz with a range of the variability time-scale of roughly 76-227 d were detected. The quasi-simultaneous radio data were used to investigate the synchrotron spectrum of the source. We found that the synchrotron radiation is self-absorbed. The turnover frequency and the peak flux density of the synchrotron self-absorption (SSA) spectra are in the ranges of similar to 42-172 GHz and similar to 0.9-10.2 Jy, respectively. From the SSA spectra, we derived the SSA magnetic field strengths to be similar to 9.20, similar to 12.28, and similar to 50.97 mG on 2013 December 24, 2014 February 28, and 2018 January 13, respectively. We also derived the equipartition magnetic field strengths to be in the range of similar to 24-109 mG. The equipartition magnetic field strengths are larger than the SSA magnetic field strengths in most cases, which indicates that particle energy mainly dominates in the jet. Our results suggest that the flares in the jet of CTA 102 originated due to particle acceleration. We propose the possible mechanisms of particle acceleration.

Item Type: Article
Funders: KREONET (Korea Research Environment Open NETwork), Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) [NNX08AW31G] [NNX11A043G] [NNX14AQ89G], National Science Foundation (NSF) [AST-0808050] [AST-1109911], Caltech, Spanish `Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovaci 'on' (MCINN) through the `Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa' award [SEV-2017-0709], Spanish Government European Commission [AYA2016-80889-P] [PID2019107847RB-C44], entre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Max Planck Society, IGN (Spain) - Smithsonian Institution, Academia Sinica - Taiwan, ALMA [2011.0.00001], NASA through the Fermi Guest Investigator Program, National Research Foundation of Korea [2020R1A2C2009003]
Uncontrolled Keywords: Radiation mechanisms: Non-thermal; Galaxies: active; Galaxies: jets; Quasars: individual: CTA 102
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions: Faculty of Science > Department of Physics
Depositing User: Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim
Date Deposited: 28 Jul 2022 01:12
Last Modified: 28 Jul 2022 01:12
URI: http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/33635

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