TOO_awehrle_3: Observations of Flaring BL Lac in Oct-Nov 2012
Abstract
We propose to observe the flaring eponymous blazar, BL Lac, which has reached a 30-year historical maximum at radio frequencies. Our goal is to use ∼ 28 daily Herschel observations with PACS and SPIRE (8.8 hrs including time constraint) in combination with near-infrared and optical data to pin down the physical cause of flares as either magnetic field line reconnection or turbulence within shocks. We do this by comparing the spectral index of the far-infrared bands to that of the near-infrared-optical bands to determine the location and magnitude of the spectral break as the flare evolves. In addition, we will derive the physical conditions in the jet by modelling the SEDs as the flare decays. We will compare the physics of the jet in this TeV blazar to the non-TeV blazar 3C454.3 which we observed with Herschel in November 2010-January 2011 (Wehrle et al. 2012).
- Publication:
-
Herschel Space Observatory Proposal
- Pub Date:
- October 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012hers.prop.2446W