A Luminous and Isolated Gamma-Ray Flare from the Blazar B2 1215+30

Journal Article · Tue Feb 21 00:00:00 EST 2017 · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/836/2/205· OSTI ID:1355737

Abeysekara, A. U.; Archambault, S.; Archer, A.; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Buchovecky, M.; Buckley, J. H.; Bugaev, V.; Byrum, K.; Cerruti, M.; Chen, X.; Ciupik, L.; Cui, W.; Dickinson, H. J.; Eisch, J. D.; Errando, M.; Falcone, A.; Feng, Q.; Finley, J. P.; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortson, L.; Furniss, A.; Gillanders, G. H.; Griffin, S.; Grube, J.; Hütten, M.; Håkansson, N.; Hanna, D.; Holder, J.; Humensky, T. B.; Johnson, C. A.; Kaaret, P.; Kar, P.; Kertzman, M.; Kieda, D.; Krause, M.; Krennrich, F.; Kumar, S.; Lang, M. J.; Maier, G.; McArthur, S.; McCann, A.; Meagher, K.; Moriarty, P.; Mukherjee, R.; Nguyen, T.; Nieto, D.; Ong, R. A.; Otte, A. N.; Park, N.; Pelassa, V.; Pohl, M. ; Popkow, A.; Pueschel, E.; Quinn, J.; Ragan, K.; Reynolds, P. T.; Richards, G. T.; Roache, E.; Rulten, C.; Santander, M.; Sembroski, G. H.; Shahinyan, K.; Staszak, D.; Telezhinsky, I.; Tucci, J. V.; Tyler, J.; Wakely, S. P.; Weiner, O. M.; Weinstein, A.; Wilhelm, A.; Williams, D. A.; Fegan, S.; Giebels, B.; Horan, D.; Berdyugin, A.; Kuan, J.; Lindfors, E.; Nilsson, K.; Oksanen, A.; Prokoph, H.; Reinthal, R.; Takalo, L.; Zefi, F.

We report that B2 1215+30 is a BL-Lac-type blazar that was first detected at TeV energies by the MAGIC atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and subsequently confirmed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) observatory with data collected between 2009 and 2012. In 2014 February 08, VERITAS detected a large-amplitude flare from B2 1215+30 during routine monitoring observations of the blazar 1ES 1218+304, located in the same field of view. The TeV flux reached 2.4 times the Crab Nebula flux with a variability timescale of $$\lt 3.6\,\mathrm{hr}$$. Multiwavelength observations with Fermi-LAT, Swift, and the Tuorla Observatory revealed a correlated high GeV flux state and no significant optical counterpart to the flare, with a spectral energy distribution where the gamma-ray luminosity exceeds the synchrotron luminosity. Lastly, when interpreted in the framework of a one-zone leptonic model, the observed emission implies a high degree of beaming, with Doppler factor $$\delta \gt 10$$, and an electron population with spectral index $$p\lt 2.3$$.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Contributing Organization: VERITAS Collaboration; Fermi-LAT Collaboration
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 1355737
• Journal Information: The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 836, Issue 2; ISSN 1538-4357
• Publisher: Institute of Physics (IOP)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
BL Lacertae objects: individual (B2 1215+30
VER J1217+301)
galaxies: active
galaxies: jets
galaxies: nuclei
gamma rays: galaxies