- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/621/A14
- Title:
- Blind photometric study of NGC 2264 region
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/621/A14
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Thanks to their extensive and homogeneous sky coverage, deep, large-scale, multi-wavelength surveys are uniquely suited to statistically identify and map young star clusters in our Galaxy. Such studies are crucial to address themes like the initial mass function, or the modes and dynamics of star cluster formation and evolution. We aim to test a purely photometric approach to statistically identify a young clustered population embedded in a large population of field stars, with no prior knowledge on the nature of stars in the field. We conducted our blind test study on the NGC 2264 region, which hosts a well-known, richly populated young cluster (~3Myr-old) and several active star-forming sites. We selected a large (4 deg^2^) area around the NGC 2264 cluster, and assembled an extensive r, i, J catalog of the field from pre-existing large-scale surveys, notably Pan-STARRS1 and UKIDSS. We then mapped the stellar color locus on the (i-J, r-i) diagram to select M-type stars, which offer the following observational advantages with respect to more massive stars: i) they comprise a significant fraction of the Galactic stellar population; ii) their pre-main sequence phase lasts significantly longer than for higher-mass stars; iii) they exhibit the strongest luminosity evolution from the pre-main sequence to the main sequence; iv) their observed r, i, J colors provide a direct and empirical estimate of AV. A comparative analysis of the photometric and spatial properties of M-type stars as a function of AV enabled us to probe the structure and stellar content of our field. Using only r, i, J photometry, we could identify two distinct populations in our field: a diffuse field population and a clustered population in the center of the field. The presence of a concentration of occulting material, spatially associated with the clustered population, allowed us to derive an estimate of its distance (800-900pc) and age (0.5-5Myr); these values are overall consistent with the literature parameters for the NGC 2264 star-forming region. The extracted clustered population exhibits a hierarchical structure, with two main clumps and peaks in number density of objects around the most extincted locations within the field. An excellent agreement is found between the observed substructures for the clustered population and a map of the NGC 2264 subregions reported in the literature. Our selection of clustered members is coherent with the literature census of the NGC 2264 cluster for about 95% of the objects located in the inner regions of the field, where the estimated contamination rate by field stars in our sample is only 2%. In addition, the availability of a uniform dataset for a large area around the NGC 2264 region enabled us to discover a population of about a hundred stars with indications of statistical membership to the cluster, therefore extending the low-mass population census of NGC 2264 to distances of 10-15pc from the cluster cores. By making use solely of deep, multi-band (r, i, J) photometry, without assuming any further knowledge on the stellar population of our field, we were able to statistically identify and reconstruct the structure of a very young cluster that has been a prime target for star formation studies over several decades. The method tested here can be readily applied to surveys such as Pan-STARRS and the future LSST to undertake a first complete census of low-mass, young stellar populations down to distances of several kpc across the Galactic plane.
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Search Results
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/207/16
- Title:
- BL Lac candidates for TeV observations
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/207/16
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- BL Lac objects are the most numerous class of extragalactic TeV-detected sources. One of the biggest difficulties in investigating their TeV emission is due to their limited number, since only 47 BL Lac objects are known to be TeV emitters. In this paper, we propose new criteria to select TeV BL Lac candidates based on infrared and X-ray observations. We apply our selection criteria to the BL Lac objects listed in the ROMA-BZCAT catalog (Cat. J/A+A/495/691), thereby identifying 41 potential TeV emitters. We then perform a search over a more extended sample combining the ROSAT bright source catalog (Cat. IX/10) and the WISE all-sky survey (Cat. II/311), revealing 54 additional candidates for TeV observations. Our investigation also led to a tentative classification of 16 unidentified X-ray sources as BL Lac candidates. This analysis provides new interesting BL Lac targets for future observations with ground-based Cherenkov telescopes.
1953. BL Lac from SDSS
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/129/2542
- Title:
- BL Lac from SDSS
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/129/2542
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a sample of 386 BL Lacertae candidates identified from 2860deg^2^ of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic database. The candidates are primarily selected to have quasi-featureless optical spectra and low proper motions as measured from SDSS and USNO-B positions; however, our ability to separate Galactic from extragalactic quasi-featureless objects (QFOs) on the basis of proper motion alone is limited by the lack of reliable proper motion measurements for faint objects. Based largely on this remarkably clean color separation, we subdivide the sample into 240 probable candidates and 146 additional less probable (likely stellar) candidates.
1954. BL Lac 86GHz images
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/649/A153
- Title:
- BL Lac 86GHz images
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/649/A153
- Date:
- 22 Feb 2022
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Controversial studies on the jet collimation profile of BL Lacertae (BL Lac), the eponymous blazar of the BL Lac objects class, complicate the scenario in this already puzzling class of objects. Understanding the jet geometry in connection with the jet kinematics and the physical conditions in the surrounding medium is fundamental for better constraining the formation, acceleration, and collimation mechanisms in extragalactic jets. With the aim of investigating the jet geometry in the innermost regions of the BL Lac jet, and resolving the controversy, we explore the radio jet in this source using high-resolution millimeter-wave VLBI data. We collect 86GHz GMVA and 43 GHz VLBA data to obtain stacked images that we use to infer the jet collimation profile by means of two comparable methods. We analyze the kinematics at 86GHz, and we discuss it in the context of the jet expansion. Finally, we consider a possible implication of the Bondi sphere in shaping the jet of BL Lac. The jet in BL Lac expands with an overall conical geometry. A higher expanding rate region is observed between ~5 and 10pc (de-projected) from the black hole. Such a region is associated with the decrease in brightness usually observed in high frequency VLBI images of BL Lac. The jet retrieves the original jet expansion around 17pc, where the presence of a recollimation shock is supported by both the jet profile and the 15GHz kinematics (MOJAVE survey). The change in the jet expansion profile occurring at ~5pc could be associated with a change in the external pressure at the location of the Bondi radius (~3.3x10^5^R_S_)/
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/278/6
- Title:
- BL Lac objects and OVV quasars
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/278/6
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Based on the idea that a group of extragalactic objects which can be regarded as a category with similar physical properties must fit the Hubble relation, we present a new, independent evidence that BL Lacertae objects are different from Optically Violently Variable (OVV) quasars. The unified model of BL Lac objects, FR-I, and FR-II radio galaxies is also discussed.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/900/L34
- Title:
- BL Lac objects and radio galaxies comparison
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/900/L34
- Date:
- 15 Feb 2022 00:20:41
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The most elusive and extreme subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), known as BL Lac objects, shows features that can only be explained as the result of relativistic effects occurring in jets pointing at a small angle with respect to the line of sight. A longstanding issue is the identification of the BL Lac parent population with jets oriented at larger angles. According to the "unification scenario" of AGNs, radio galaxies with low luminosity and an edge-darkened radio morphology are the most promising candidate parent population of BL Lacs. Here we compare the large-scale environment, an orientation-independent property, of well-defined samples of BL Lacs with samples of radio galaxies all lying in the local universe. Our study reveals that BL Lacs and radio galaxies live in significantly different environments, challenging predictions of the unification scenario. We propose a solution to this problem proving that large-scale environments of BL Lacs are statistically consistent with those of compact radio sources, known as FR 0s, and share similar properties. This implies that highly relativistic jets are ubiquitous and are the natural outcome of the accretion of gas into the deep gravitational potential well produced by supermassive black holes.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/538/A26
- Title:
- BL Lac objects beyond z=1.3
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/538/A26
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Observations of the {gamma}-ray sky with Fermi led to significant advances towards understanding blazars, the most extreme class of active galactic nuclei. A large fraction of the population detected by Fermi is formed by BL Lacertae (BL Lac) objects, whose sample has always suffered from a severe redshift incompleteness due to the quasi-featureless optical spectra. Our goal is to provide a significant increase of the number of confirmed high-redshift BL Lac objects contained in the 2 LAC Fermi/LAT catalog.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/861/130
- Title:
- BL Lac objects GTC low resolution spectroscopy
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/861/130
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We report on 16 BL Lacertae objects that were proposed to be at z>1. We present spectroscopic observations secured at the 10.4m GTC that allowed us to assess the redshift of these sources. In particular, for five objects, we disprove the previous value of the redshift reported in the literature and found that they lie at z<1. Moreover, two of them exhibit broad emission lines that are not characteristic of BL Lacertae objects. On the other hand, for eight targets, we improve the tentative value of z, previously based on only one feature, by detecting a number of emission lines. Finally, in three cases, we detect the onset of the Ly{alpha} forest at z>2.50. Based on the new high quality spectra, we found that only half of the observed objects can be classified as bona-fide BL Lacs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/640/A132
- Title:
- BL Lacs optical light curves & X-ray prop.
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/640/A132
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- It has become evident that one-zone synchrotron self-Compton models are not always adequate for very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray-emitting blazars. While two-component models perform better, they are difficult to constrain due to the large number of free parameters. In this work, we make a first attempt at taking into account the observational constraints from very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) data, long-term light curves (radio, optical, and X-rays), and optical polarisation to limit the parameter space for a two-component model and test whether or not it can still reproduce the observed spectral energy distribution (SED) of the blazars. We selected five TeV BL Lac objects based on the availability of VHE gamma-ray and optical polarisation data. We collected constraints for the jet parameters from VLBI observations. We evaluated the contributions of the two components to the optical flux by means of decomposition of long-term radio and optical light curves as well as modelling of the optical polarisation variability of the objects. We selected eight epochs for these five objects based on the variability observed at VHE gamma rays, for which we constructed the SEDs that we then modelled with a two-component model. We found parameter sets which can reproduce the broadband SED of the sources in the framework of two-component models considering all available observational constraints from VLBI observations. Moreover, the constraints obtained from the long-term behaviour of the sources in the lower energy bands could be used to determine the region where the emission in each band originates. Finally, we attempt to use optical polarisation data to shed new light on the behaviour of the two components in the optical band. Our observationally constrained two-component model allows explanation of the entire SED from radio to VHE with two co-located emission regions.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/623/A175
- Title:
- 2015 BL Lac VHE gamma-ray flare
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/623/A175
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The mechanisms producing fast variability of the {gamma}-ray emission in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are under debate. The MAGIC telescopes detected a fast, very-high-energy (VHE, E>100GeV) {gamma}-ray flare from BL Lacertae on 2015 June 15. The flare had a maximum flux of (1.5+/-0.3)x10^-10^photons/cm^2^/s and halving time of 26+/-8min. The MAGIC observations were triggered by a high state in the optical and high-energy (HE, E>100MeV) {gamma}-ray bands. In this paper we present the MAGIC VHE {gamma}-ray data together with multi-wavelength data from radio, optical, X-rays, and HE {gamma} rays from 2015 May 1 to July 31. Well-sampled multi-wavelength data allow us to study the variability in detail and compare it to the other epochs when fast, VHE {gamma}-ray flares have been detected from this source. Interestingly, we find that the behaviour in radio, optical, X-rays, and HE {gamma}-rays is very similar to two other observed VHE {gamma}-ray flares. In particular, also during this flare there was an indication of rotation of the optical polarization angle and of activity at the 43GHz core. These repeating patterns indicate a connection between the three events. We also test modelling of the spectral energy distribution based on constraints from the light curves and VLBA observations, with two different geometrical setups of two-zone inverse Compton models. In addition we model the {gamma}-ray data with the star-jet interaction model. We find that all of the tested emission models are compatible with the fast VHE {gamma}-ray flare, but all have some tension with the multi-wavelength observations.
