1. The Brightest Gamma-Ray Flaring Blazar in the Sky: AGILE and Multi-wavelength Observations of 3C 454.3 During 2010 November
- Author
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Sofia O. Kurtanidze, Valeri M. Larionov, M. F. Aller, Lorand A. Sigua, M. Trifoglio, V. Strelnitski, S. G. Sergeev, Fulvio Gianotti, J. L. Gomez, M. Cardillo, Pietro Ubertini, I. M. McHardy, Angela Bazzano, Fabrizio Lucarelli, Kirill Sokolovsky, C. M. Raiteri, A. Trois, T. Krajci, F. Lazzarotto, Mark Gurwell, I. Donnarumma, A. C. Sadun, Y. Evangelista, G. Walker, Manasvita Joshi, P. Santolamazza, M. Pasanen, D. A. Morozova, R. Reinthal, Elena Pian, M. G. Nikolashvili, M. Tavani, G. A. Borman, P. W. Cattaneo, A. Sillanpää, A. A. Arkharov, L. Maraschi, N. V. Efimova, Givi N. Kimeridze, E. Del Monte, F. Longo, G. Pucella, C. Pittori, K. Nilsson, A. Pellizzoni, E. Striani, V. Vittorini, Marc Türler, V. Bianchin, M. Rapisarda, A. Giuliani, Carlo Ferrigno, P. Soffitta, S. V. Nazarov, Hugh D. Aller, G. Barbiellini, R. A. Chigladze, E. Lindfors, Arnaud Ferrari, F. Verrecchia, S. Sabatini, M. Pilia, M. Villata, M. Giusti, F. Fuschino, Andrei Berdyugin, Uwe Bach, I. Agudo, L. O. Takalo, A. W. Chen, Brian W. Taylor, P. Giommi, Omar M. Kurtanidze, S. N. Molina, J. A. Ros, G. Piano, Stephanie Sallum, M. Feroci, Andrea Bulgarelli, T. Sakamoto, Yu. S. Efimov, P. Romano, S. Vercellone, L. Pacciani, Mariateresa Fiocchi, A. Rappoldi, R. D. Schwartz, S., Vercellone, E., Striani, V., Vittorini, I., Donnarumma, L., Pacciani, G., Pucella, M., Tavani, C. M., Raiteri, M., Villata, P., Romano, M., Fiocchi, A., Bazzano, V., Bianchin, C., Ferrigno, L., Maraschi, E., Pian, M., T\urler, P., Ubertini, A., Bulgarelli, A. W., Chen, A., Giuliani, Longo, Francesco, G., Barbiellini, M., Cardillo, P. W., Cattaneo, Monte, E., Y., Evangelista, M., Feroci, A., Ferrari, F., Fuschino, F., Gianotti, M., Giusti, F., Lazzarotto, A., Pellizzoni, G., Piano, M., Pilia, M., Rapisarda, A., Rappoldi, S., Sabatini, P., Soffitta, M., Trifoglio, A., Troi, P., Giommi, F., Lucarelli, C., Pittori, P., Santolamazza, F., Verrecchia, I., Agudo, H. D., Aller, M. F., Aller, A. A., Arkharov, U., Bach, A., Berdyugin, G. A., Borman, R., Chigladze, Y. S., Efimov, N. V., Efimova, J. L., Gomez, M. A., Gurwell, I. M., Mchardy, M., Joshi, G. N., Kimeridze, T., Krajci, O. M., Kurtanidze, S. O., Kurtanidze, V. M., Larionov, E., Lindfor, S. N., Molina, D. A., Morozova, S. V., Nazarov, M. G., Nikolashvili, K., Nilsson, M., Pasanen, R., Reinthal, J. A., Ro, A. C., Sadun, T., Sakamoto, S., Sallum, S. G., Sergeev, R. D., Schwartz, L. A., Sigua, A., Sillanp\a\a, K. V., Sokolovsky, V., Strelnitski, L., Takalo, B., Taylor, and G., Walker
- Subjects
galaxies: active ,galaxies: jets ,radiation mechanisms: non-thermal ,quasars: general ,quasars: individual: 3C 454.3 ,Photon ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,Flux ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics ,Vela ,01 natural sciences ,law.invention ,Pulsar ,law ,0103 physical sciences ,Blazar ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,media_common ,Physics ,High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) ,general [quasars] ,010308 nuclear & particles physics ,individual: 3C 454.3 [quasars] ,Gamma ray ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,non-thermal [radiation mechanisms] ,jet [galaxies] ,Space and Planetary Science ,Sky ,active [galaxies] ,Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,Flare - Abstract
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 November 2010. On 2010 November 20 (MJD 55520), 3C 454.3 reached a peak flux (E>100 MeV) of F_gamma(p) = (6.8+-1.0)E-5 ph/cm2/s on a time scale of about 12 hours, more than a factor of 6 higher than the flux of the brightest steady gamma-ray source, the Vela pulsar, and more than a factor of 3 brighter than its previous super-flare on 2009 December 2-3. The multi-wavelength data make a thorough study of the present event possible: 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 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., Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. 18 Pages, 4 Figures, 1 Table
- Published
- 2011