%0 Journal Article
%T Flux States of Active Galactic Nuclei
%A Adrian Biland
%A Aleksander Paravac
%A Amit Shukla
%A Andrii Neronov
%A Axel Arbet-Engels
%A Bernd Schleicher
%A Daniela Dorner
%A Dominik Baack
%A Dominik Elsaesser
%A Dominik Neise
%A Dorothee Hildebrand
%A Elan von Willert
%A FACT Collaboration
%A Florian Schulz
%A Jens Buss
%A Kai Bruegge
%A Karl Mannheim
%A Kevin Sedlaczek
%A Lena Linhoff
%A Manuel Doerr
%A Matteo Balbo
%A Maximilian Noethe
%A Michael Blank
%A Michael Bulinski
%A Roland Walter
%A Sebastian Achim Mueller
%A Thomas Bretz
%A Vitalii Sliusar
%A Wolfgang Rhode
%J Galaxies | An Open Access Journal from MDPI
%D 2019
%R https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies7020057
%X Blazars are known to show variability on time scales from minutes to years covering a wide range of flux states. Studying the flux distribution of a source allows for various insights. The shape of the flux distribution can provide information on the nature of the underlying variability processes. The level of a possible quiescent state can be derived from the main part of the distribution that can be described by a Gaussian distribution. Dividing the flux states into quiescent and active, the duty cycle of a source can be calculated. Finally, this allows alerting the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger community in case a source is in an active state. To get consistent and conclusive results from flux distributions, unbiased long-term observations are crucial. Only like this is a complete picture of the variability and flux states, e.g., an all-time quiescent state, possible. In seven years of monitoring of bright TeV blazars, the first G-APD Cherenkov telescope (FACT) has collected a total of more than 11,700 hours of physics data with 1500 hours to 3000 hours per source for Mrk 421, Mrk 501, 1ES 1959+650, and 1ES 2344+51. View Full-Tex
%U https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4434/7/2/57