Two-year monitoring of intra-day variability of quasar 1156+295 at 4.8 GHz

TL;DR

This study monitored quasar 1156+295 over two years at 4.8 GHz, revealing annual modulation in intra-day variability likely caused by interstellar scintillation, with source activity influencing variability characteristics.

Contribution

First long-term monitoring of quasar 1156+295 demonstrating annual modulation of IDV timescales linked to interstellar scintillation effects.

Findings

IDV observed nearly monthly over two years.

IDV timescales follow an annual cycle consistent with ISS.

Source experienced a significant flare in 2008 affecting IDV.

Abstract

The quasar 1156+295 (4C +29.45) is one of the targets in the Urumqi monitoring program which aimed to search for evidence of annual modulation in the timescales of intra-day variable (IDV) sources. The IDV observations of 1156+295 were carried out nearly monthly from October 2007 to October 2009, with the Urumqi 25m radio telescope at 4.8 GHz. The source has shown prominent IDV of total flux density in most observing sessions with variability timescales of <= 1 day at 4.8 GHz. The estimated IDV timescales seem to follow an annual cycle that can be fitted with an anisotropic interstellar scintillation (ISS) model suggesting that a significant part of the flux density variations is due to ISS. The source underwent a dramatic flare in 2008. We studied the possible consequences of the flare on the IDV of 1156+295 by comparing the changes in its IDV characteristics with the evolution of the 43 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) core size of the source. Conclusions: The quasar 1156+295 shows evidence for an annual modulation of its IDV timescales at 4.8 GHz, the ISS-induced IDV timescales and variability strength might be affected by the overall activity state of the source core. More frequent IDV and VLBI measurements are required to confirm the relation between the IDV appearance and the core-size evolution of the source.