AP Librae

AP Librae is a BL Lac object[4] located at a distance of 700 million light years[3] in the southern constellation of Libra. In the visual band it is one of the most active blazars known.[8] AP Lib is surrounded by an extended source with a spectrum characteristic of a red-shifted giant elliptical galaxy. The derived visual magnitude of this region is 15.0, and it follows a radially decreasing brightness that is characteristic of an elliptical. Seven fainter galaxies are visible within an angular radius of 9′, suggesting it is the brightest member of a galactic cluster.[4]

AP Librae
Observation data (Epoch J2000)
ConstellationLibra
Right ascension15h 17m 41.814s[1]
Declination−24° 22′ 19.48″[1]
Redshift0.049[2]
Distance700 Mly (215 Mpc)[3]
TypeBL Lac[4]
Apparent dimensions (V)0′.323 × 0′.278[5]
Apparent magnitude (V)14.0[6]
Notable featuresHighly active; emits a one-sided radio jet
Other designations
AP Lib, LEDA 54592, PKS 1514-24, QSO B1514-24[7]
See also: Quasar, List of quasars

This object was first identified as an optical variable by Martha D. Ashbrook in 1942, who noted the brightness changed irregularly from magnitude 15.0 down to 16.0.[9] The source was found to vary chaotically on time scales of days and even hours.[10] Howard E. Bond and Francois Biraud in 1971 noted the coincidence of this object with the position of the radio source PKS 1514–24.[11] In 1965, John G. Bolton and associates identified the latter as a sixteenth magnitude elliptical galaxy.[9] Glenn M. Frye and associates in 1971 suggested that it may be a gamma-ray source.[11] The similarity of this object to BL Lacertae was noted, leading to it being designated as a BL Lac object.[12]

AP Librae emits a synchrotron radiation component to its spectral energy distribution (SED). The peak component of this radiation lies in the infrared band, making this a low-frequency peaked BL Lac (LBL). It is one of the few LBLs known to emit gamma rays. The width of the high energy component of the SED is considered extremely broad for objects of this class, ranging in energy from around 0.1 keV up to the TeV level.[13] In 1998–99, extended radio emission was detected from a one-sided jet that starts in a south-easterly direction from the source before bending to the northeast.[14] This non-thermal jet extends 15″ from AP Lib (equivalent to ~46 kly), and in 2013 was found to emit X-rays.[8] The jet may be the source for the gamma-ray emission in the TeV range.[15]

References
  1. Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2021). "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 649: A1. arXiv:2012.01533. Bibcode:2021A&A...649A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657. S2CID 227254300. Gaia EDR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. Roychowdhury, Agniva; et al. (January 2022), "Circumnuclear Dust in AP Librae and the Source of Its VHE Emission", The Astrophysical Journal, 924 (2): 19, arXiv:2110.12016, Bibcode:2022ApJ...924...57R, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac34f1, 57.
  3. Sanchez, D. A.; et al. (December 2015), "From radio to TeV: the surprising spectral energy distribution of AP Librae", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 454 (3): 3229–3239, arXiv:1506.00965, Bibcode:2015MNRAS.454.3229S, doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2151.
  4. Visvanathan, N.; Griersmith, D. (August 1977), "The extended source in AP Librae.", Astrophysical Journal, 215: 759–764, Bibcode:1977ApJ...215..759V, doi:10.1086/155410.
  5. Skrutskie, Michael F.; et al. (February 1, 2006), "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)", The Astronomical Journal, 131: 1163–1183, Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S, doi:10.1086/498708, ISSN 0004-6256.
  6. Ducati, J. R. (2002), "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue of Stellar Photometry in Johnson's 11-color system.", CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues, no. 2237, Bibcode:2002yCat.2237....0D.
  7. "QSO B1514-24". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2022-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  8. Kaufmann, S.; et al. (October 2013), "Discovery of an Extended X-Ray Jet in AP Librae", The Astrophysical Journal, 776 (2): 7, arXiv:1309.6893, Bibcode:2013ApJ...776...68K, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/776/2/68, 68.
  9. Bond, Howard E. (July 1971), "The Optically Variable Radio Source PKS 1514-24 = AP Librae", Astrophysical Journal, 167: L79, Bibcode:1971ApJ...167L..79B, doi:10.1086/180764.
  10. Hunstead, R. W. (October 1971), "Further Data on the Optical Variable PKS 1514-24", Nature, 233 (5319): 401–402, Bibcode:1971Natur.233..401H, doi:10.1038/233401a0.
  11. Andrews, P. J.; et al. (July 1974), "Photometry of AP Lib and PKS 0521-36", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 168: 7P–11P, Bibcode:1974MNRAS.168P...7A, doi:10.1093/mnras/168.1.7P.
  12. Peterson, B. A.; et al. (July 1976), "The BL Lacertae object AP Librae in 1975", Astrophysical Journal, 207: L17–L19, Bibcode:1976ApJ...207L..17P, doi:10.1086/182168.
  13. Fortin, P.; et al. (2010), Rieger, Frank M.; et al. (eds.), "Gamma-ray emission from AP Librae (PKS1514-241)", Proceedings of the 25th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics. December 6-10, 2010. Heidelberg, Germany, Bibcode:2010tsra.confE.199F.
  14. Cassaro, P.; et al. (November 1999), "Extended radio emission in BL Lac objects. I. The images", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, 139: 601–616, arXiv:astro-ph/9910209, Bibcode:1999A&AS..139..601C, doi:10.1051/aas:1999511.
  15. Zacharias, Michael; Wagner, Stefan (November 2016), "AP Librae: The Extended Jet as the Source of VHE Emission?", Galaxies, 4 (4): 63, Bibcode:2016Galax...4...63Z, doi:10.3390/galaxies4040063.

Further reading

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