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            Abstract We examine lengthy radio light curves of the flat spectrum radio galaxy 3C 454.3 for possible quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs). The data used in this work were collected at five radio frequencies, 4.8, 8.0, 14.5, 22.0, and 37.0 GHz between 1979 and 2013 as observed at the University of Michigan Radio Astronomical Observatory, Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, and Aalto University Metsähovi Radio Observatory. We employ generalized Lomb–Scargle periodogram and weighted wavelet transform analyses to search for periodicities in these light curves. We confirm a QPO period of ∼2000 days to be at least 4σsignificant using both methods at all five radio frequencies between 1979 and 2007, after which a strong flare changed the character of the light curve. We also find a ∼600 day period, which is at least 4σsignificant, but only in the 22.0 and 37.0 GHz light curves. We briefly discuss physical mechanisms capable of producing such variations.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025
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            Abstract Using nearly simultaneous radio, near-infrared, optical, and ultraviolet (UV) data collected since 2009, we constructed 106 spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the blazar OJ 287. These SEDs are well fitted by a log-parabolic model. By classifying the data into “flare” and “quiescent” segments, we find that the median flux at the peak frequency of the SEDs during the flare segments is 0.37 ± 0.22 dex higher compared to the quiescent segments, while no significant differences are observed in the median values of the curvature parameterbor the peak frequency . A significant bluer-when-brighter trend is confirmed through the relation between theVmagnitude andB − Vcolor index, with this trend being stronger in the flare segments. Additionally, a significant anticorrelation is detected between andb, with a slope of 5.79 in the relation between 1/band , closer to the prediction from a statistical acceleration model than a stochastic acceleration interpretation, though a notable discrepancy persists. This discrepancy indicates that additional factors—such as deviations from idealized conditions or radiative contributions, such as the thermal emission from the accretion disk in the optical–UV range during quiescent states—may play a role in producing the observed steeper slope. Within the framework of the statistical acceleration mechanism, the lack of correlation between the change in the peak intensity and the change in the peak frequency suggests that the change in the electron energy distribution is unlikely to be responsible for the time-dependent SED changes. Instead, changes in Doppler boosting or magnetic fields may have a greater influence.more » « less
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            Abstract We report the detection of very high energy gamma-ray emission from the blazar S3 1227+25 (VER J1230+253) with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). VERITAS observations of the source were triggered by the detection of a hard-spectrum GeV flare on 2015 May 15 with the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT). A combined 5 hr VERITAS exposure on May 16 and 18 resulted in a strong 13σdetection with a differential photon spectral index, Γ = 3.8 ± 0.4, and a flux level at 9% of the Crab Nebula above 120 GeV. This also triggered target-of-opportunity observations with Swift, optical photometry, polarimetry, and radio measurements, also presented in this work, in addition to the VERITAS and Fermi-LAT data. A temporal analysis of the gamma-ray flux during this period finds evidence of a shortest variability timescale ofτobs= 6.2 ± 0.9 hr, indicating emission from compact regions within the jet, and the combined gamma-ray spectrum shows no strong evidence of a spectral cutoff. An investigation into correlations between the multiwavelength observations found evidence of optical and gamma-ray correlations, suggesting a single-zone model of emission. Finally, the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution is well described by a simple one-zone leptonic synchrotron self-Compton radiation model.more » « less
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