Rotation of the optical polarization angle associated with the 2008 γ-ray flare of blazar W comae

Abstract

An R-band photopolarimetric variability analysis of the TeV bright blazar W Comae between 2008 February 28 and 2013 May 17 is presented. The source showed a gradual tendency to decrease its mean flux level with a total change of 3 mJy. A maximum and minimum brightness states in the R band of 14.25 ± 0.04 and 16.52 ± 0.1 mag, respectively, were observed, corresponding to a maximum variation of ΔF = 5.40 mJy. We estimated a minimum variability timescale of Δt = 3.3 days. A maximum polarization degree P = 33.8% ± 1.6%, with a maximum variation of ΔP = 33.2%, was found. One of our main results is the detection of a large rotation of the polarization angle from 78° to 315° (Δθ ∼ 237°) that coincides in time with the γ-ray flare observed in 2008 June. This result indicates that both optical and γ-ray emission regions could be co-spatial. During this flare, a correlation between the R-band flux and polarization degree was found with a correlation coefficient of r F-p = 0.93 ± 0.11. From the Stokes parameters, we infer the existence of two optically thin synchrotron components that contribute to the polarized flux. One of them is stable with a constant polarization degree of 11%. Assuming a shock-in jet model during the 2008 flare, we estimated a maximum Doppler factor δ D ∼ 27 and a minimum of δ D ∼ 16; a minimum viewing angle of the jet ∼2.°0; and a magnetic field B ∼ 0.12 G.