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A change in the optical polarization associated with a γ-ray flare in the blazar 3C 279

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Abstract

It is widely accepted that strong and variable radiation detected over all accessible energy bands in a number of active galaxies arises from a relativistic, Doppler-boosted jet pointing close to our line of sight1. The size of the emitting zone and the location of this region relative to the central supermassive black hole are, however, poorly known, with estimates ranging from light-hours to a light-year or more. Here we report the coincidence of a gamma (γ)-ray flare with a dramatic change of optical polarization angle. This provides evidence for co-spatiality of optical and γ-ray emission regions and indicates a highly ordered jet magnetic field. The results also require a non-axisymmetric structure of the emission zone, implying a curved trajectory for the emitting material within the jet, with the dissipation region located at a considerable distance from the black hole, at about 105 gravitational radii.

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Figure 1: History of flux in various bands, γ-ray photon index, and optical polarization of 3C 279.
Figure 2: Energy spectrum from radio to γ-ray band of 3C 279 at two different epochs.

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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements The Fermi-LAT Collaboration acknowledges support from a number of agencies and institutes for both development and the operation of the LAT as well as scientific data analysis. These include NASA and DOE in the United States, CEA/Irfu and IN2P3/CNRS in France, ASI and INFN in Italy, MEXT, KEK and JAXA in Japan, and the K. A. Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the National Space Board in Sweden. Additional support from INAF in Italy for science analysis during the operations phase is also gratefully acknowledged. The GASP-WEBT observatories participating in this work are Abastumani, Calar Alto, Campo Imperatore, Crimean, Kitt Peak (MDM), L'Ampolla, Lowell (Perkins-PRISM), Lulin, Roque de los Muchachos (KVA and Liverpool), San Pedro Mártir, St Petersburg for the optical–NIR bands, and Mauna Kea (SMA), Medicina, Metsahovi, Noto and UMRAO for the millimetre radio band, and are supported in part by the Georgian National Science Foundation, the Spanish “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación”, the NSF and NASA and the Smithsonian Institution in the United States, the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, the Russian RFBR and the Academy of Finland. M.H. is supported by the JSPS for the Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad. J. Conrad is a Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Research Fellow, funded by a grant from the K. A. Wallenberg Foundation. L.T. is partially supported by the International Doctorate on Astroparticle Physics (IDAPP) programme.

Author Contributions All authors contributed to the work presented in this paper. M. Uemura and R. Itoh led the Kanata observations and data analysis. M. Villata organized the optical-radio observations by GASP-WEBT as the president of the collaboration.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia 20375, USA.,

    A. A. Abdo, A. Chekhtman, C. C. Cheung, C. D. Dermer, J. E. Grove, W. N. Johnson, M. N. Lovellette, A. Makeev, D. Parent, M. S. Strickman & K. S. Wood

  2. National Research Council Research Associate, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia 20001, USA.,

    A. A. Abdo & C. C. Cheung

  3. Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.,

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  4. Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.,

    M. Axelsson

  5. The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.,

    M. Axelsson, J. Conrad, M. S. Jackson, S. Larsson, S. McGlynn, C. Meurer, F. Ryde & T. Ylinen

  6. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa, Italy.,

    L. Baldini, R. Bellazzini, J. Bregeon, A. Brez, M. Kuss, L. Latronico, N. Omodei, M. Pesce-Rollins, M. Razzano, C. Sgrò & G. Spandre

  7. Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Université Paris Diderot, Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France.,

    J. Ballet, J. M. Casandjian, S. Corbel, I. A. Grenier & L. Tibaldo

  8. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.,

    G. Barbiellini, G. Iafrate & F. Longo

  9. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.,

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  10. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy.,

    D. Bastieri, S. Buson, R. Rando & L. Tibaldo

  11. Dipartimento di Fisica “Galileo Galilei”, Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy.,

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  12. Department of Physics, Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.,

    B. M. Baughman, R. E. Hughes, A. Sander, P. D. Smith & B. L. Winer

  13. Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA), Big Pine, California 93514, USA.,

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  14. Radio Astronomy Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.,

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  15. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy.,

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  16. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy.,

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  17. Dipartimento di Fisica “M. Merlin” dell'Università e del Politecnico di Bari, I-70126 Bari, Italy.,

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  21. Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai (IEEC-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.,

    G. A. Caliandro, A. Y. Rodriguez & D. F. Torres

  22. INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, I-20133 Milano, Italy.,

    P. A. Caraveo

  23. Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) Science Data Center, I-00044 Frascati (Roma), Italy.,

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  26. Department of Physics and Center for Space Sciences and Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland 21250, USA.,

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  27. George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030, USA.,

    A. Chekhtman, A. Makeev & D. Parent

  28. Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Astroparticules, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS/IN2P3, 34095 Montpellier, France.,

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  29. Max-Planck Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, 85748 Garching, Germany.,

    W. Collmar & E. Orlando

  30. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California 94928-3609, USA.,

    L. R. Cominsky

  31. Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.,

    J. Conrad, S. Larsson & C. Meurer

  32. Institut universitaire de France, 75005 Paris, France.,

    S. Corbel

  33. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Udine, I-33100 Udine, Italy.,

    A. de Angelis & M. Frailis

  34. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, Gruppo Collegato di Udine, I-33100 Udine, Italy.,

    A. de Angelis & M. Frailis

  35. CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d'Études Nucléaires Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR 5797, Gradignan, 33175, France.,

    D. Dumora, L. Guillemot, M. Lemoine-Goumard, B. Lott, D. Parent, T. Reposeur & D. A. Smith

  36. Université de Bordeaux, Centre d'Études Nucléaires Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR 5797, Gradignan, 33175, France.,

    D. Dumora, L. Guillemot, M. Lemoine-Goumard, B. Lott, D. Parent, T. Reposeur & D. A. Smith

  37. Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, I-34143 Trieste, Italy.,

    M. Frailis & G. Iafrate

  38. Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany.,

    L. Fuhrmann, L. Guillemot, I. Nestoras, J. A. Zensus, E. Angelakis & U. Bach

  39. Department of Physical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan.,

    Y. Fukazawa, Y. Hanabata, R. Itoh, H. Katagiri, T. Mizuno, T. Ohsugi, H. Takahashi, Y. Ikejiri, K. Sakimoto, M. Sasada & M. Yamanaka

  40. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.,

    N. Gehrels

  41. Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.,

    N. Gehrels, W. McConville, J. E. McEnery & A. A. Moiseev

  42. INAF Istituto di Radioastronomia, 40129 Bologna, Italy.,

    M. Giroletti

  43. Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR), University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama 35899, USA.,

    S. Guiriec

  44. Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.,

    M. S. Jackson, S. McGlynn, F. Ryde & T. Ylinen

  45. Dr Remeis-Sternwarte Bamberg, Sternwartstrasse 7, D-96049 Bamberg, Germany.,

    M. Kadler

  46. Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.,

    M. Kadler

  47. Universities Space Research Association (USRA), Columbia, Maryland 21044, USA.,

    M. Kadler

  48. Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1, Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 169-8555 Japan.,

    J. Kataoka

  49. Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro City, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan.,

    N. Kawai

  50. Cosmic Radiation Laboratory, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.,

    N. Kawai

  51. Centre d'Étude Spatiale des Rayonnements, CNRS/UPS, BP 44346, F-30128 Toulouse cedex 4, France.,

    J. Knödlseder & N. Vilchez

  52. ICRAR/Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia.,

    J. Macquart

  53. Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.,

    W. Max-Moerbeck, V. Pavlidou, T. J. Pearson, A. Readhead, J. L. Richards & M. Stevenson

  54. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma “Tor Vergata”, I-00133 Roma, Italy.,

    A. Morselli & V. Vitale

  55. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado 80208, USA.,

    J. P. Norris & J. F. Ormes

  56. Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.,

    A. Okumura

  57. Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA.,

    T. A. Porter, H. F.-W. Sadrozinski, P. M. Saz Parkinson & M. Ziegler

  58. Institut für Astro- und Teilchenphysik and Institut für Theoretische Physik, Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.,

    A. Reimer & O. Reimer

  59. Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.,

    L. C. Reyes

  60. Space Sciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035-1000, USA.,

    J. D. Scargle

  61. NYCB Real-Time Computing Inc., Lattingtown, New York 11560-1025, USA.,

    E. J. Siskind

  62. Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University, 30-244 Kraków, Poland.,

    L. Stawarz

  63. Department of Chemistry and Physics, Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, Indiana 46323-2094, USA.,

    D. J. Suson

  64. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510, Japan.,

    T. Takahashi

  65. University of New Mexico, MSC07 4220, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA.,

    G. B. Taylor

  66. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançcats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain.,

    D. F. Torres

  67. Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Fisica Spaziale (CIFS), I-10133 Torino, Italy.,

    A. Tramacere

  68. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Roma, Italy.,

    V. Vitale

  69. Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado 80301, USA.,

    A. E. Wehrle

  70. School of Pure and Applied Natural Sciences, University of Kalmar, SE-391 82 Kalmar, Sweden.,

    T. Ylinen

  71. Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan.,

    M. Uemura & K. S. Kawabata

  72. Department of Physics and Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.,

    M. Kino & S. Sato

  73. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, I-10025 Pino Torinese (TO), Italy.,

    M. Villata & C. M. Raiteri

  74. Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía, CSIC, 18080 Granada, Spain.,

    I. Agudo, J. L. Gómez & M. Roca-Sogorb

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

    H. D. Aller & M. F. Aller

  76. Pulkovo Observatory, 196140 St Petersburg, Russia.,

    A. A. Arkharov & N. V. Efimova

  77. Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, CP 04510 México, D.F., México.,

    E. Benítez & D. Dultzin

  78. Tuorla Observatory, University of Turku, FI-21500 Piikkiö, Finland.,

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  81. Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.,

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  87. Aalto University Metsähovi Radio Observatory, FIN-02540 Kylmälä, Finland.,

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  88. Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.,

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  90. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 BJ, UK.,

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Consortia

The Fermi-LAT Collaboration and members of the 3C 279 multi-band campaign

  • The Fermi-LAT Collaboration

    • A. A. Abdo
    • , M. Ackermann
    • , M. Ajello
    • , M. Axelsson
    • , L. Baldini
    • , J. Ballet
    • , G. Barbiellini
    • , D. Bastieri
    • , B. M. Baughman
    • , K. Bechtol
    • , R. Bellazzini
    • , B. Berenji
    • , R. D. Blandford
    • , E. D. Bloom
    • , D. C.-J. Bock
    • , J. R. Bogart
    • , E. Bonamente
    • , A. W. Borgland
    • , A. Bouvier
    • , J. Bregeon
    • , A. Brez
    • , M. Brigida
    • , P. Bruel
    • , T. H. Burnett
    • , S. Buson
    • , G. A. Caliandro
    • , R. A. Cameron
    • , P. A. Caraveo
    • , J. M. Casandjian
    • , E. Cavazzuti
    • , C. Cecchi
    • , Ö. Çelik
    • , A. Chekhtman
    • , C. C. Cheung
    • , J. Chiang
    • , S. Ciprini
    • , R. Claus
    • , J. Cohen-Tanugi
    • , W. Collmar
    • , L. R. Cominsky
    • , J. Conrad
    • , S. Corbel
    • , R. Corbet
    • , L. Costamante
    • , S. Cutini
    • , C. D. Dermer
    • , A. de Angelis
    • , F. de Palma
    • , S. W. Digel
    • , E. do Couto e Silva
    • , P. S. Drell
    • , R. Dubois
    • , D. Dumora
    • , C. Farnier
    • , C. Favuzzi
    • , S. J. Fegan
    • , E. C. Ferrara
    • , W. B. Focke
    • , P. Fortin
    • , M. Frailis
    • , L. Fuhrmann
    • , Y. Fukazawa
    • , S. Funk
    • , P. Fusco
    • , F. Gargano
    • , D. Gasparrini
    • , N. Gehrels
    • , S. Germani
    • , B. Giebels
    • , N. Giglietto
    • , P. Giommi
    • , F. Giordano
    • , M. Giroletti
    • , T. Glanzman
    • , G. Godfrey
    • , I. A. Grenier
    • , J. E. Grove
    • , L. Guillemot
    • , S. Guiriec
    • , Y. Hanabata
    • , A. K. Harding
    • , M. Hayashida
    • , E. Hays
    • , D. Horan
    • , R. E. Hughes
    • , G. Iafrate
    • , R. Itoh
    • , M. S. Jackson
    • , G. Jóhannesson
    • , A. S. Johnson
    • , W. N. Johnson
    • , M. Kadler
    • , T. Kamae
    • , H. Katagiri
    • , J. Kataoka
    • , N. Kawai
    • , M. Kerr
    • , J. Knödlseder
    • , M. L. Kocian
    • , M. Kuss
    • , J. Lande
    • , S. Larsson
    • , L. Latronico
    • , M. Lemoine-Goumard
    • , F. Longo
    • , F. Loparco
    • , B. Lott
    • , M. N. Lovellette
    • , P. Lubrano
    • , J. Macquart
    • , G. M. Madejski
    • , A. Makeev
    • , W. Max-Moerbeck
    • , M. N. Mazziotta
    • , W. McConville
    • , J. E. McEnery
    • , S. McGlynn
    • , C. Meurer
    • , P. F. Michelson
    • , W. Mitthumsiri
    • , T. Mizuno
    • , A. A. Moiseev
    • , C. Monte
    • , M. E. Monzani
    • , A. Morselli
    • , I. V. Moskalenko
    • , S. Murgia
    • , I. Nestoras
    • , P. L. Nolan
    • , J. P. Norris
    • , E. Nuss
    • , T. Ohsugi
    • , A. Okumura
    • , N. Omodei
    • , E. Orlando
    • , J. F. Ormes
    • , D. Paneque
    • , J. H. Panetta
    • , D. Parent
    • , V. Pavlidou
    • , T. J. Pearson
    • , V. Pelassa
    • , M. Pepe
    • , M. Pesce-Rollins
    • , F. Piron
    • , T. A. Porter
    • , S. Rainò
    • , R. Rando
    • , M. Razzano
    • , A. Readhead
    • , A. Reimer
    • , O. Reimer
    • , T. Reposeur
    • , L. C. Reyes
    • , J. L. Richards
    • , L. S. Rochester
    • , A. Y. Rodriguez
    • , M. Roth
    • , F. Ryde
    • , H. F.-W. Sadrozinski
    • , D. Sanchez
    • , A. Sander
    • , P. M. Saz Parkinson
    • , J. D. Scargle
    • , C. Sgrò
    • , M. S. Shaw
    • , C. Shrader
    • , E. J. Siskind
    • , D. A. Smith
    • , P. D. Smith
    • , G. Spandre
    • , P. Spinelli
    • , L. Stawarz
    • , M. Stevenson
    • , M. S. Strickman
    • , D. J. Suson
    • , H. Tajima
    • , H. Takahashi
    • , T. Takahashi
    • , T. Tanaka
    • , G. B. Taylor
    • , J. B. Thayer
    • , J. G. Thayer
    • , D. J. Thompson
    • , L. Tibaldo
    • , D. F. Torres
    • , G. Tosti
    • , A. Tramacere
    • , Y. Uchiyama
    • , T. L. Usher
    • , V. Vasileiou
    • , N. Vilchez
    • , V. Vitale
    • , A. P. Waite
    • , P. Wang
    • , A. E. Wehrle
    • , B. L. Winer
    • , K. S. Wood
    • , T. Ylinen
    • , J. A. Zensus
    •  & M. Ziegler

  • External members of the 3C 279 multi-band campaign

    • M. Uemura
    • , Y. Ikejiri
    • , K. S. Kawabata
    • , M. Kino
    • , K. Sakimoto
    • , M. Sasada
    • , S. Sato
    • , M. Yamanaka
    • , M. Villata
    • , C. M. Raiteri
    • , I. Agudo
    • , H. D. Aller
    • , M. F. Aller
    • , E. Angelakis
    • , A. A. Arkharov
    • , U. Bach
    • , E. Benítez
    • , A. Berdyugin
    • , D. A. Blinov
    • , M. Boettcher
    • , C. S. Buemi
    • , W. P. Chen
    • , M. Dolci
    • , D. Dultzin
    • , N. V. Efimova
    • , M. A. Gurwell
    • , C. Gusbar
    • , J. L. Gómez
    • , J. Heidt
    • , D. Hiriart
    • , T. Hovatta
    • , S. G. Jorstad
    • , T. S. Konstantinova
    • , E. N. Kopatskaya
    • , E. Koptelova
    • , O. M. Kurtanidze
    • , A. Lahteenmaki
    • , V. M. Larionov
    • , E. G. Larionova
    • , P. Leto
    • , H. C. Lin
    • , E. Lindfors
    • , A. P. Marscher
    • , I. M. McHardy
    • , D. A. Melnichuk
    • , M. Mommert
    • , K. Nilsson
    • , A. Di Paola
    • , R. Reinthal
    • , G. M. Richter
    • , M. Roca-Sogorb
    • , P. Roustazadeh
    • , L. A. Sigua
    • , L. O. Takalo
    • , M. Tornikoski
    • , C. Trigilio
    • , I. S. Troitsky
    • , G. Umana
    • , C. Villforth
    • , K. Grainge
    • , R. Moderski
    • , K. Nalewajko
    •  & M. Sikora

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to M. Hayashida or G. M. Madejski.

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The author declare no competing financial interests.

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Lists of participants and their affiliations appear at the end of the paper.

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The Fermi-LAT Collaboration and members of the 3C 279 multi-band campaign. A change in the optical polarization associated with a γ-ray flare in the blazar 3C 279. Nature 463, 919–923 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08841

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