Microvariability in the optical polarization of 3C279
We present results of a microvariability polarization study in the violently variable quasar 3C279. We have resolved the polarization curves in the V band for this object down to timescales of minutes. We found two main components in the evolution of the degree of linear polarization, one consisting...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2003 |
| País: | Argentina |
| Institución: | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| Repositorio: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/31519 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/11336/31519 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Active galaxies 3C 279 (galaxia) Polarization Photometry https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
| Sumario: | We present results of a microvariability polarization study in the violently variable quasar 3C279. We have resolved the polarization curves in the V band for this object down to timescales of minutes. We found two main components in the evolution of the degree of linear polarization, one consisting of a flicker with timescales of several tens of minutes and other component with far more significant variations on timescales of a few days. The linear polarization descended from ~17% down to ~8% in three nights. The polarization angle underwent a sudden change of more that 10 degrees in a few hours, perhaps indicating the injection of a new shock in the jet. The amplitude of the intranight flickering in the degree of polarization is at the level of ~1%. These are probably the best sampled polarization data ever obtained for this object. We also performed IR observations and we provide a follow-up of the evolution of this source at such energies after the main polarization outburst. |
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