We report the discovery by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope of high-energy γ-ray (GeV) emission from the flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 1454–354 (z = 1.424). On 2008 September 4, the source rose to a peak flux of (3.5 ± 0.7) × 10–6 ph cm–2 s–1 (E > 100 MeV) on a timescale of hours and then slowly dropped over the following 2 days. No significant spectral changes occurred during the flare. Fermi/LAT observations also showed that PKS 1454–354 is the most probable counterpart of the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1500–3509. Multiwavelength measurements performed during the following days (7 September with Swift; 6-7 September with the ground-based optical telescope Automated Telescope for Optical Monitoring; 13 September with the Australia Telescope Compact Array) resulted in radio, optical, UV, and X-ray fluxes greater than archival data, confirming the activity of PKS 1454–354.
FERMI/LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DISCOVERY OF GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM THE FLAT-SPECTRUM RADIO QUASAR PKS 1454-354
BALDINI, LUCA;RAZZANO, MASSIMILIANO;
2009-01-01
Abstract
We report the discovery by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope of high-energy γ-ray (GeV) emission from the flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 1454–354 (z = 1.424). On 2008 September 4, the source rose to a peak flux of (3.5 ± 0.7) × 10–6 ph cm–2 s–1 (E > 100 MeV) on a timescale of hours and then slowly dropped over the following 2 days. No significant spectral changes occurred during the flare. Fermi/LAT observations also showed that PKS 1454–354 is the most probable counterpart of the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1500–3509. Multiwavelength measurements performed during the following days (7 September with Swift; 6-7 September with the ground-based optical telescope Automated Telescope for Optical Monitoring; 13 September with the Australia Telescope Compact Array) resulted in radio, optical, UV, and X-ray fluxes greater than archival data, confirming the activity of PKS 1454–354.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.