http://arxiv.org/abs/1807.07942
We report on the radio-brightening of the blazar TXS 0506+056 in temporal coincidence with the IC-170922A high-energy neutrino detection by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) data at 15 GHz spanning 16 epochs between January 2009 and May 2018 were analysed in order to reveal the radio structure of the blazar TXS 0506+056 (z=0.3365). This flaring $\gamma$-ray blazar has been recently identified as the source of the high-energy neutrino event IC-170922A, also supported by the excess of cosmic neutrinos between September 2014 and March 2015 reported by the IceCube Collaboration. Our investigations indicate that the radio flux density of the TXS 0506+056 VLBI core has been abruptly brightening since January 2016, producing an accumulated fourfold increase until the most recent observation. Further, the radio jet-components maintain peculiar quasi-stationary core separations and the structure of the jet ridge line, as well as the flux density variation along it is indicative of a jet curve at the region $0.5-2$ mas from the VLBI core. These features support a helical jet structure and a small inclination angle, which is less than $7^\circ$ based on the average brightness temperature of the core. The radio jet pointing towards the Earth is the key property of the blazar TXS 0506+056 enabling multimessenger observations. The radio-brightening coincident with the high-energy neutrino detection is similar to the one reported for the blazar PKS 0723-008 and IceCube event ID5.
E. Kun, P. Biermann and L. Gergely
Mon, 23 Jul 18
39/48
Comments: 5 pages, 4 figures
You must be logged in to post a comment.