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Long-term monitoring of the blazars AO 0235+164 and S5 0716+714 in the optical and radio ranges

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Abstract

Long-term, multi-frequency optical and radio monitoring data for the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) AO 0235+164 and S5 0716+714 are used to derive the characteristics of their radiation on time scales from hours to decades. Structure-function and harmonic analyses are carried out to determine the parameters of the radiation of these AGNs and explain their physical characteristics. Periodic components that could be associated with the motion of companions along an orbit in a close binary system of two supermassive black holes are identified. Both of the analysis methods used yield consistent results for the harmonic components. The results obtained are consistent with the idea that we are viewing systems of two supermassive black holes in a stage of their evolution that is close to coalescence. The substantial energy release of these AGNs can be interpreted as dynamical losses arising during the motion of the companion about the common center of gravity in a dense accreting medium, sometimes crossing through the accretion disk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Astro Space Center, P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    V. S. Bychkova, N. S. Kardashev & M. G. Larionov

  2. Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory, Astro Space Center, P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow region, Russia

    A. E. Vol’vach & L. N. Vol’vach

  3. Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnii Arkhyz, Karachay–Cherkess Republic, Russia

    V. V. Vlasyuk & O. I. Spiridonova

  4. Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland

    A. Lähteenmäki & M. Tornikoski

  5. Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1042, USA

    M. F. Aller & H. D. Aller

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  1. V. S. Bychkova
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  2. A. E. Vol’vach
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  3. N. S. Kardashev
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  4. M. G. Larionov
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  7. L. N. Vol’vach
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  8. A. Lähteenmäki
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  9. M. Tornikoski
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  11. H. D. Aller
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Correspondence to A. E. Vol’vach.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © V. S. Bychkova, A. E. Vol’vach, N. S. Kardashev, M. G. Larionov, V. V. Vlasyuk, O. I. Spiridonova, L. N. Vol’vach, A. Lakhteenmaki, M. Tornikoski, M. F. Aller, H. D. Aller, 2015, published in Astronomicheskii Zhurnal, 2015, Vol. 92, No. 9, pp. 728–741.

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Bychkova, V.S., Vol’vach, A.E., Kardashev, N.S. et al. Long-term monitoring of the blazars AO 0235+164 and S5 0716+714 in the optical and radio ranges. Astron. Rep. 59, 851–864 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063772915080016

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