The gamma/optical flares of 4FGL-DR3 blazars Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. De Jaeger T.
  2. Shappee B.J.
  3. Kochanek C.S.
  4. Hinkle J.T.
  5. Garrappa S.,Liodakis I.
  6. Franckowiak A.
  7. Stanek K.Z.
  8. Beacom J.F.
  9. Prieto J.L.
  10. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

Using blazar light curves from the optical All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) and the {gamma}-ray Fermi-LAT telescope, we performed the most extensive statistical correlation study between both bands, using a sample of 1180 blazars. This is almost an order of magnitude larger than other recent studies. Blazars represent more than 98 per cent of the AGNs detected by Fermi- LAT and are the brightest {gamma}-ray sources in the extragalactic sky. They are essential for studying the physical properties of astrophysical jets from central black holes. However, their {gamma}-ray flare mechanism is not fully understood. Multiwavelength correlations help constrain the dominant mechanisms of blazar variability. We search for temporal relationships between optical and {gamma}-ray bands. Using a Bayesian Block Decomposition, we detect 1414 optical and 510 {gamma}-ray flares, we find a strong correlation between both bands. Among all the flares, we find 321 correlated flares from 133 blazars, and derive an average rest-frame time delay of only 1.1_-8.5_^+7.1^ d, with no difference between the flat-spectrum radio quasars, BL Lacertae-like objects or low, intermediate, and high-synchrotron peaked blazar classes. Our time-delay limit rules out the hadronic proton-synchrotron model as the driver for non-orphan flares and suggests a leptonic single-zone model. Limiting our search to well-defined light curves and removing 976 potential but unclear 'orphan' flares, we find 191 (13 per cent) and 115 (22 per cent) clear 'orphan' optical and {gamma}-ray flares. The presence of 'orphan' flares in both bands challenges the standard one-zone blazar flare leptonic model and suggests multizone synchrotron sites or a hadronic model for some blazars.

Keywords
  1. galaxies
  2. active-galactic-nuclei
  3. quasars
  4. spectroscopy
  5. photometry
  6. gamma-ray-astronomy
  7. visible-astronomy
  8. radio-sources
  9. astrometry
  10. redshifted
  11. gamma-ray-bursts
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2023MNRAS.519.6349D
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/519/6349
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/519/6349

Access

Web browser access HTML
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/519/6349
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/519/6349
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/519/6349
IVOA Table Access TAP
https://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap
Run SQL-like queries with TAP-enabled clients (e.g., TOPCAT).
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/519/6349/tablea1?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/519/6349/tablea1?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/519/6349/tablea1?

History

2026-04-23T08:46:10Z
Resource record created
2026-04-23T07:59:31Z
Updated
2026-04-23T08:46:10Z
Created

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr