4 July 2017
MPIfR
Europe/Berlin timezone
Contribution
MPIfR
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0.02
The peculiar light-curve of J1415+1320: Symmetric Achromatic Variability in Active Galaxies
Content
I will briefly discuss the interpretation of the peculiar light curve of J1415+1320, that shows time-symmetric and recurring U-shaped features across the cm-wave and mm-wave bands, which we call Symmetric Achromatic Variability (SAV). Although a common proposal to explain simmilar features in blazar radio light curves are Extreme Scattering Events (ESEs), this is shown to be not viable for this particular source. An alternative explanation involving lensing of the jet by mass condensates in the $10^3$ to $10^6$ solar mass scale is shown to be consistent with the observed light curves. The scales involved in the lens can be studied with GMVA observations, which will allow us to test this idea.