Microvariability in the optical polarization of 3C 279
We present results of a microvariability polarization study in the violently variable quasaer 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 consistin...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2003 |
| País: | Argentina |
| Institución: | Universidad Nacional de La Plata |
| Repositorio: | SEDICI (UNLP) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/84492 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/84492 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Ciencias Astronómicas Galaxies: active Galaxies: individual: 3C 279 Galaxies: photometry Polarization |
| Sumario: | We present results of a microvariability polarization study in the violently variable quasaer 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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