THE EXTRAORDINARY GAMMA-RAY FLARE OF THE BLAZAR 3C 454.3

Journal Article · Tue Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/718/1/455· OSTI ID:21455149

Striani, E; Tavani, M; Vittorini, V; D'Ammando, F ^[1]; Vercellone, S ^[2]; Donnarumma, I; Pacciani, L; Argan, A; Costa, E; De Paris, G; Monte, E Del ^[3]; Pucella, G ^[4]; Bulgarelli, A; Trifoglio, M; Gianotti, F ^[5]; Giommi, P ^[6]; Barbiellini, G ^[7]; Caraveo, P; Chen, A W ^[8]; Cattaneo, P W ^[9]

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1. Dip. di Fisica, Univ. Tor Vergata, I-00133 Roma (Italy)
2. INAF-IASF-Palermo, via U. La Malfa 15, I-90146 Palermo (Italy)
3. INAF/IASF-Roma, I-00133 Roma (Italy)
4. ENEA Frascati, I-00044 Frascati (Roma) (Italy)
5. INAF/IASF-Bologna, I-40129 Bologna (Italy)
6. ASI Science Data Center, I-00044 Frascati (Roma) (Italy)
7. Dip. Fisica and INFN Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy)
8. INAF/IASF-Milano, I-20133 Milano (Italy)
9. INFN-Pavia, I-27100 Pavia (Italy)

We present the gamma-ray data of the extraordinary flaring activity above 100 MeV from the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 454.3 detected by AGILE during the month of 2009 December. 3C 454.3, which has been among the most active blazars of the FSRQ type since 2007, has been detected in the gamma-ray range with a progressively rising flux since 2009 November 10. The gamma-ray flux reached a value comparable with that of the Vela pulsar on 2009 December 2. Remarkably, between 2009 December 2 and 3, the source more than doubled its gamma-ray emission and became the brightest gamma-ray source in the sky with a peak flux of F {sub {gamma},p} = (2000 {+-} 400) x 10{sup -8} ph cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} for a 1 day integration above 100 MeV. The gamma-ray intensity decreased in the following days with the source flux remaining at large values near F {sub {gamma}} {approx_equal} (1000 {+-} 200) x 10{sup -8} ph cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} for more than a week. This exceptional gamma-ray flare dissipated among the largest ever detected intrinsic radiated power in gamma-rays above 100 MeV (L {sub {gamma},source,peak} {approx_equal} 3 x 10{sup 46} erg s{sup -1}, for a relativistic Doppler factor of {delta} {approx_equal} 30). The total isotropic irradiated energy of the month-long episode in the range 100 MeV-3 GeV is E {sub {gamma},iso} {approx_equal} 10{sup 56} erg. We report the intensity and spectral evolution of the gamma-ray emission across the flaring episode. We briefly discuss the important theoretical implications of our detection.

• OSTI ID: 21455149
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 718, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/718/1/455; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
FLARING
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
GAMMA RADIATION
GAMMA SOURCES
PULSARS
QUASARS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENERGY RANGE
EVOLUTION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIATIONS