THE BRIGHTEST GAMMA-RAY FLARING BLAZAR IN THE SKY: AGILE AND MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF 3C 454.3 DURING 2010 NOVEMBER

Journal Article · Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/736/2/L38· OSTI ID:21562501

Vercellone, S; Romano, P ^[1]; Striani, E; Tavani, M ^[2]; Vittorini, V; Donnarumma, I; Pacciani, L; Fiocchi, M; Bazzano, A; Ubertini, P ^[3]; Pucella, G ^[4]; Raiteri, C M; Villata, M ^[5]; Bianchin, V; Bulgarelli, A ^[6]; Ferrigno, C; Tuerler, M ^[7]; Maraschi, L ^[8]; Pian, E ^[9]

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1. INAF/IASF-Palermo, Via Ugo La Malfa 153, I-90146 Palermo (Italy)
2. Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita degli Studi di Roma 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma (Italy)
3. INAF/IASF-Roma, Via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Roma (Italy)
4. ENEA-Frascati, Via E. Fermi 45, I-00044 Frascati (Roma) (Italy)
5. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, I-10025 Pino Torinese (Italy)
6. INAF/IASF-Bologna, Via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna (Italy)
7. ISDC, Universite de Geneve, Chemin d'Ecogia, 16 1290 Versoix (Switzerland)
8. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via E. Bianchi 46, 23807, Merate (Italy)
9. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G. B. Tiepolo 11, 34143 Trieste (Italy)

Since 2005, the blazar 3C 454.3 has shown remarkable flaring activity at all frequencies, and during the last four years it has exhibited more than one {gamma}-ray flare per year, becoming the most active {gamma}-ray blazar in the sky. We present for the first time the multi-wavelength AGILE, Swift, INTEGRAL, and GASP-WEBT data collected in order to explain the extraordinary {gamma}-ray flare of 3C 454.3 which occurred in 2010 November. On 2010 November 20 (MJD 55520), 3C 454.3 reached a peak flux (E >100 MeV) of F{sup p}{sub {gamma}} = (6.8 {+-} 1.0) x 10{sup -5} photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} on a timescale of about 12 hr, more than a factor of six higher than the flux of the brightest steady {gamma}-ray source, the Vela pulsar, and more than a factor of three brighter than its previous super-flare on 2009 December 2-3. The multi-wavelength data make possible a thorough study of the present event: the comparison with the previous outbursts indicates a close similarity to the one that occurred in 2009. By comparing the broadband emission before, during, and after the {gamma}-ray flare, we find that the radio, optical, and X-ray emission varies within a factor of 2-3, whereas the {gamma}-ray flux by a factor of 10. This remarkable behavior is modeled by an external Compton component driven by a substantial local enhancement of soft seed photons.

• OSTI ID: 21562501
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 736, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/736/2/L38; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
EMISSION
GALAXIES
GAMMA RADIATION
PULSARS
QUASARS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
RADIATIONS