For the interpretation of X-ray radiation from kiloparsec jets of quasars, the inverse Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background has been widely used for almost 20 years. A recent analysis of the Fermi-LAT observational data showed that this assumption is inapplicable for jets of several quasars. In this paper, we consider the inverse Compton scattering of photons from a central source as a possible mechanism for the formation of X-ray radiation from kiloparsec jets of the quasars PKS 0637−752, 3C 273, PKS 1510−089, and PKS 1045−188. Estimates for the angle between the line of sight and the velocity of kiloparsec-scale jets are obtained. The predicted gamma-ray flux for all objects turned out to be below the upper limit on the flux from a kiloparsec jet obtained from the Fermi-LAT data. It is shown that our assumption about the mechanism of kiloparsec jets X-ray radiation is consistent with all data of multiwavelength observations available to date.

For type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) for which the equatorial scattering is the dominant broad line polarization mechanism, it is possible to measure the supermassive black hole mass by tracing the Keplerian motion across the polarization plane position angle ϕ. So far this method has been used for 30 objects but only for Hα emission line. We explore the possibilities this method for determining SMBH masses using polarization in broad emission lines by applying it for the first time to Mg II λ2798 Åspectral line. We use 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code stokes for simultaneous modeling of equatorial scattering of Hα, Hβ and Mg II lines. We included vertical inflows and outflows in the Mg II broad line region (BLR). We find that polarization states of Hα and Hβ lines are almost identical and SMBH mass estimates differ by 7%. For Mg II line, we find that ϕ exhibits an additional “plateau” with a constant ϕ, which deviates than the profiles expected for pure Keplerian motion. SMBH mass estimates using Mg II line are higher by up to 35% than those obtained from Hα and Hβ lines. Our model shows that for vertical inflows and outflows in the BLR that is higher or comparable to Keplerian velocity, this method can be applied as a first approximation for obtaining SMBH mass.

The bright radio source S5 0716+714, that is usually classified as BL Lac object, is one of the most intensively studied. S5 0716+714 demonstrates extremely peculiar properties such as the shortest time-scale of optical and polarimetric variations observed in blazars. In given paper, the results of 9-hour polarimetric monitoring of S5 0716+714 with the ∼70-second resolution carried out by the 6-m telescope BTA of SAO RAS, are presented. The observation data analysis reveals the variability both in total and polarized light on the 1-1.5-hour time-scale. Since polarization is generated by plasma motion in the magnetic field, the variations of polarization vector are bounded with the magnetic field configuration and the average time-scales specify the size of the emitting region, unresolved directly. We suggest a processed numerically model of the polarization in the jet with the precessing helical magnetic field. Fitting the model discovers that observed short-term variations with the complicated trajectory of polarization vector could be induced by the magnetic field precession with the period T ≈ 15 days.

Here we give an observational method for measurements of the equatorial scattering region radius using variability in the polarized broad lines in Type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The polarization in broad lines of Type 1 AGNs is mostly caused by equatorial scattering, where specific features allow one to separate its contribution from the total polarized flux. We propose to monitor variability in the polarized line flux and find the time lag between the nonpolarized continuum and polarized broad line variability. The distance to the scattering screen can then be determined from the time delay.The method was, for the first time, applied to the observations of the Type 1 AGN Mrk 6, and we found that the size of the scattering region in this AGN is around 100 light days. That is significantly smaller than the dusty region size estimated by the infrared interferometric observations and also larger than known broad line region (BLR) size. This indicates that the scattering region lies between the BLR and the dusty region and could be used as a probe of the dust sublimation radius.

We present the results of long-term photometric monitoring of two active galactic nuclei, 2MASX J08535955+7700543 (z ∼ 0.106) and VII Zw 244 (z ∼ 0.131), being investigated by the reverberation mapping method in medium-band filters. To estimate the size of the broad line region, we have analyzed the light curves with the JAVELIN code. The emission line widths have been measured using the spectroscopic data obtained at the 6-m BTA telescope of SAO RAS. We give our estimates of the supermassive black hole masses lg(M/M ), 7.398 +0.153 −0.171 , and 7.049 +0.068 −0.075 , respectively.