Presentation Abstract

Presentation Number 154.34
Presentation Time: Monday, Jan 09, 2012, 9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Title Modeling the Spectral Energy Distribution of 3C 279 in the Fermi Era
Author Block Melissa Halford1, K. Marshall2, M. Joyce3, H. Aller4, M. Aller4
1Cornell University, 2Widener University, 3Bucknell University, 4University of Michigan.
Abstract We compare the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the blazar 3C 279 during a gamma ray flare, an X-ray flare and a quiescent period. The SEDs are constructed using data from radio, optical, X-ray and gamma ray bands. We model the emission using a leptonic model with a single spherical emission region moving down the jet of the blazar. This model includes synchrotron self Compton (SSC) emission plus external Compton (EC) radiation from the accretion disk. We find that changes in the SED between the time periods can be explained by changes in the electron energy density and the accretion rate of the central black hole. SSC emission alone is unable to explain the gamma ray emission while adding the EC component accounts for all but the radio data. It is possible that the radio emission comes from a second region farther down the jet. This hypothesis is supported by the long variability timescale of the radio emission as compared to other wavebands as well as the lack of correlation between the radio emission and other parts of the SED. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation's REU program through NSF grant PHY-0552790.