MAXI observation of Blazars
Abstract
Longterm X-ray observations of blazars with MAXI are reported. One of the most important properties of blazars is their rapid intensity variation, which is a useful probe for the high energy phenomena related to their jets, including the particle acceleration. The unprecedentedly high sensitivity of MAXI as an all-sky X-ray monitor makes it the ideal observatory for studies of the longterm variation of blazars. Actually, MAXI has successfully detected several strong X-ray flares from the high-energy peaked BL Lac object Mrk 421 with the X-ray flux at highest level among those ever recorded from the object. The physical quantities associated with the flares were estimated, from the close examination on the MAXI lightcurve. These results clearly demonstrate the potential of MAXI for the variability of blazars.
- Publication:
-
The First Year of MAXI: Monitoring Variable X-ray Sources
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010fym..confE..36I