EVN OBSERVATIONS OF HESS J1943+213: EVIDENCE FOR AN EXTREME TeV BL Lac OBJECT

We report on the 1.6 GHz (18 cm) very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of the unresolved, steady TeV source HESS J1943+213 located in the Galactic plane, performed with the European VLBI Network (EVN) in 2014. Our new observations with a nearly full EVN array provide the deepest image of HESS J1943+213 at the highest resolution ever achieved, enabling us to resolve the long-standing issues of the source identification. The milliarcsecond-scale structure of HESS J1943+213 has a clear asymmetric morphology consisting of a compact core and a diffuse jet-like tail. This is broadly consistent with the previous e-EVN observations of the source performed in 2011 and re-analyzed in this work. The core component is characterized by the brightness temperature of greater than or similar to 1.8 x 10(9) K, which is typical for low-luminosity blazars in general. Overall, the radio properties of HESS J1943+213 are consistent with the source classification as an "extreme high-frequency-peaked BL Lac object." Remarkably, we note that because HESS J1943+213 does not reveal any optical or infrared signatures of the active galactic nucleus activity, it would never be recognized and identified as a BL Lac object if not for its location close to the Galactic plane where the High Energy Stereoscopic System surveyed for and the follow-up dedicated X-ray and radio studies triggered by the source detection in the TeV range. Our results suggest, therefore, a presence of an unrecognized, possibly very numerous population of particularly extreme HBLs and simultaneously demonstrate that the low-frequency VLBI observations with high angular resolution are indispensable for a proper identification of such objects.