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Emission From Hot Dust In The Infrared Spectra Of Gamma-Ray Bright Blazars, Michael P. Malmrose, Alan P. Marscher, Svetlana G. Jorstad, Robert Nikutta, Moshe Elitzur

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

A possible source of γ-ray photons observed from the jets of blazars is inverse Compton scattering by relativistic electrons of infrared seed photons from a hot, dusty torus in the nucleus. We use observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope to search for signatures of such dust in the infrared spectra of four γ-ray bright blazars, the quasars 4C 21.35, CTA102, and PKS 1510-089, and the BL Lacertae object ON231. The spectral energy distribution (SED) of 4C 21.35 contains a prominent infrared excess indicative of dust emission. After subtracting a non-thermal component with a power-law spectrum, we fit a …