Long-term variability of active galactic nuclei from the ”Planck” catalog

Abstract

A complete sample of 104 bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the “Planck” catalog (early results) were observed at 36.8 GHz with the 22-m radio telescope of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO).Variability indices of the sources at this frequency were determined based on data from theWMAP space observatory, theMetsa¨ hovi RadioObservatory (Finland), and the CrimeanAstrophysical Observatory. New observational results confirm that the variability of these AGNs is stronger in the millimeter than at other radio wavelengths. The variability indices probably change as a result of the systematic decrease in the AGN flux densities in the transition to the infrared. Some radio sources demonstrate significant flux-density variations, including decreases, which sometimes cause them to fall out of the analysed sample. The change of the variability index in the millimeter is consistent with the suggestion that this variability is due to intrinsic processes in binary supermassive black holes at an evolutionary stage close to coalescence. All 104 of the sources studied are well known objects that are included in various radio catalogs and have flux densities exceeding 1 Jy at 36.8 GHz.