1. SDSS J102623.61+254259.5: the second most distant blazar atz = 5.3
- Author
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Tullia Sbarrato, Luigi Foschini, Neil Gehrels, Gianpiero Tagliaferri, Giancarlo Ghirlanda, Gabriele Ghisellini, Marco Nardini, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Arne Rau, and Jochen Greiner
- Subjects
Physics ,Solar mass ,Infrared ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Quasar ,Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics ,Astrophysics ,Viewing angle ,Redshift ,Luminosity ,Space and Planetary Science ,Spectral energy distribution ,Blazar ,Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics - Abstract
The radio-loud quasar SDSS J102623.61+254259.5, at a redshift z=5.3, is one of the most distant radio-loud objects. Since its radio flux exceeds 100 mJy at a few GHz, it is also one of the most powerful radio-loud sources. We propose that this source is a blazar, i.e. we are seeing its jet at a small viewing angle. This claim is based on the spectral energy distribution of this source, and especially on its strong and hard X-ray spectrum, as seen by Swift, very typical of powerful blazars. Observations by the Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector (GROND) and by theWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) allow to establish the thermal nature of the emission in the near IR-optical band. Assuming that this is produced by a standard accretion disk, we derive that it emits a luminosity of L_d \simeq 9 \times 10^46 erg s^{-1} and that the black hole has a mass between 2 and 5 billion solar masses. This poses interesting constraints on the mass function of heavy (> 10^9 M_sun) black holes at high redshifts.
- Published
- 2012