A ten-year study of extragalactic variable sources at centimeter wavelengths

Abstract

Observations of 99 suspected variable sources are presented. The observations cover periods of up to 10.5 yr at 2.8 cm and 7 yr at 4.5-cm wavelength. It is concluded from the observations that bursts of particle generation occur in the average variable source about once every 1.5-2 yr. There seems to be a universal emission mechanism such that the maximum flux density at a given wavelength is proportional to the inverse 0.4 power of wavelength for wavelengths in the range 1-10 cm.