TY - JOUR

T1 - Optical Emission and Particle Acceleration in a Quasi-stationary Component in the Jet of OJ 287

AU - Sasada, Mahito

AU - Jorstad, Svetlana

AU - Marscher, Alan P.

AU - Bala, Vishal

AU - Joshi, Manasvita

AU - MacDonald, Nicholas R.

AU - Malmrose, Michael P.

AU - Larionov, Valeri M.

AU - Morozova, Daria A.

AU - Troitsky, Ivan S.

AU - Agudo, Iván

AU - Casadio, Carolina

AU - Gómez, José L.

AU - Molina, Sol N.

AU - Itoh, Ryosuke

PY - 2018/9/1

Y1 - 2018/9/1

N2 - We analyze the linear polarization of the relativistic jet in BL Lacertae object OJ 287 as revealed by multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Array images at 43 GHz and monitoring observations at optical bands. The electric-vector position angle of the optical polarization matches that at 43 GHz at locations that are often in the compact millimeter-wave "core" or, at other epochs, coincident with a bright, quasi-stationary emission feature ∼0.2 mas (∼0.9 pc projected on the sky) downstream from the core. This implies that electrons with high enough energies to emit optical synchrotron and γ-ray inverse Compton radiation are accelerated both in the core and at the downstream feature, the latter of which lies ≥10 pc from the central engine. The polarization vector in the stationary feature is nearly parallel to the jet axis, as expected for a conical standing shock capable of accelerating electrons to GeV energies.

AB - We analyze the linear polarization of the relativistic jet in BL Lacertae object OJ 287 as revealed by multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Array images at 43 GHz and monitoring observations at optical bands. The electric-vector position angle of the optical polarization matches that at 43 GHz at locations that are often in the compact millimeter-wave "core" or, at other epochs, coincident with a bright, quasi-stationary emission feature ∼0.2 mas (∼0.9 pc projected on the sky) downstream from the core. This implies that electrons with high enough energies to emit optical synchrotron and γ-ray inverse Compton radiation are accelerated both in the core and at the downstream feature, the latter of which lies ≥10 pc from the central engine. The polarization vector in the stationary feature is nearly parallel to the jet axis, as expected for a conical standing shock capable of accelerating electrons to GeV energies.

KW - BL Lacertae objects: individual (OJ 287)

KW - galaxies: active

KW - galaxies: jets

KW - methods: observational

KW - techniques: polarimetric

KW - ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

KW - POLARIMETRIC OBSERVATIONS

KW - LINEAR-POLARIZATION

KW - HIGH-FREQUENCIES

KW - RADIO OUTBURSTS

KW - BL-LACERTAE

KW - BLAZAR JETS

KW - 3C 454.3

KW - SHOCKS

KW - VARIABILITY

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053168320&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/aad553

DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/aad553

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85053168320

VL - 864

SP - 1DUMMY

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

SN - 0004-637X

IS - 1

M1 - 67

ER -