Mid-infrared variability of the neutrino source blazar TXS 0506$+$056 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1807.07462


The IceCube instrument detected a high-energy cosmic neutrino event on 2017 September 22 (IceCube_170922A, IceCube Collaboration 2018), which the electromagnetic follow-up campaigns associated with the flaring $\gamma$-ray blazar TXS 0506$+$056 (e.g., Padovani et al., 2018). We investigated the mid-infrared variability of the source by using the available single exposure data of the WISE satellite at $3.4$ and $4.6\mu$m. TXS 0506$+$056 experienced a $\sim 30$% brightening in both of these bands a few days prior to the neutrino event. Additional intraday infrared variability can be detected in 2010. Similar behaviour seen previously in $\gamma$-ray bright radio-loud AGN has been explained by their jet emission (e.g., Jiang et al. 2012).

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K. Gabányi, A. Moór and S. Frey
Fri, 20 Jul 18
38/63

Comments: 3 pages, 1 figure; accepted by the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society