Radio variability of 1st 3-months Fermi blazars at 5 GHz: affected by interstellar scintillation?

TL;DR

This study investigates radio variability in Fermi blazars at 5 GHz, revealing that interstellar scintillation influences intra-day variability, with stronger effects in weaker sources and those at lower Galactic latitudes.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how interstellar scintillation affects radio variability in Fermi blazars, especially at 5 GHz, based on extensive observations.

Findings

Significant correlation between 5 GHz flux density and gamma-ray intensity.

Higher intra-day variability detection rate in Fermi-detected blazars.

Variability is stronger in weaker sources and at lower Galactic latitudes.

Abstract

Blazars from the first-three-months Fermi-AGN list were observed with the Urumqi 25m radio telescope at 5GHz in IDV (Intra-Day Variability) mode and inter-month observation mode. A significant correlation between the flux density at 5GHz and the gamma-ray intensity for the Fermi-LAT detected blazars is seen. There is a higher IDV detection rate in Fermi detected blazars than those reported for other samples. Stronger variability appears at lower Galactic latitudes; IDV appears to be stronger in weaker sources, indicating that the variability is affected by interstellar scintillation.