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Main Authors: Bihan, Sébastien Le, Dmytriiev, Anton, Zech, Andreas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.14074
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author Bihan, Sébastien Le
Dmytriiev, Anton
Zech, Andreas
author_facet Bihan, Sébastien Le
Dmytriiev, Anton
Zech, Andreas
contents The blazar 3C 279 is well known for its prolific emission of rapid flares. A particular event occurred on 12/20/2013, exhibiting a large flux increase with a doubling time scale of a few hours, a very hard gamma-ray spectrum, and a time-asymmetric light curve with slow decay, but no significant variations detected in the optical range. We propose a novel scenario to interpret this flare, based on two emission zones, a stationary blob and a moving plasma blob. The stationary blob, located within the BLR, accounts for the low-state emission. The moving blob decouples from the stationary zone, accelerates and crosses the BLR. The high-energy flare is attributed to the variable external Compton emission as the blob moves through the BLR, while variations in the synchrotron emission are negligible. Our interpretation differs from previous interpretations by attributing the flare to the bulk motion and geometry of the external photon fields, without invoking varying electron injection.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_14074
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An orphan flare from a plasma blob crossing the broad-line region ?
Bihan, Sébastien Le
Dmytriiev, Anton
Zech, Andreas
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
The blazar 3C 279 is well known for its prolific emission of rapid flares. A particular event occurred on 12/20/2013, exhibiting a large flux increase with a doubling time scale of a few hours, a very hard gamma-ray spectrum, and a time-asymmetric light curve with slow decay, but no significant variations detected in the optical range. We propose a novel scenario to interpret this flare, based on two emission zones, a stationary blob and a moving plasma blob. The stationary blob, located within the BLR, accounts for the low-state emission. The moving blob decouples from the stationary zone, accelerates and crosses the BLR. The high-energy flare is attributed to the variable external Compton emission as the blob moves through the BLR, while variations in the synchrotron emission are negligible. Our interpretation differs from previous interpretations by attributing the flare to the bulk motion and geometry of the external photon fields, without invoking varying electron injection.
title An orphan flare from a plasma blob crossing the broad-line region ?
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.14074