PKS 1502+106: A NEW AND DISTANT GAMMA-RAY BLAZAR IN OUTBURST DISCOVERED BY THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE
Abdo, A. A. ; Ackermann, M. ; Ajello, M. ; Cavazzuti, E. ;
Feb - 2010
ISSN : 0004-637X ;
journal : The Astrophysical Journal
Issue : 1
type: Article Journal
Abstract
The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope discovered a rapid (<5 days duration), high-energy (E > 100 MeV) gamma-ray outburst from a source identified with the blazar PKS 1502+106 (OR 103, S3 1502+10, z = 1.839) starting on 2008 August 5 (<23 UTC, MJD 54683.95), and followed by bright and variable flux over the next few months. Results on the gamma-ray localization and identification, as well as spectral and temporal behavior during the first months of the Fermi all-sky survey, are reported here in conjunction with a multiwaveband characterization as a result of one of the first Fermi multifrequency campaigns. The campaign included a Swift ToO (followed up by a 16 day observation on August 7-22, MJD 54685-54700), VLBA (within the MOJAVE program), Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) 40 m, Effelsberg-100 m, Mets\ahovi-14 m, RATAN-600, and Kanata-Hiroshima radio/optical observations. Results from the analysis of archival observations by INTEGRAL, XMM-Newton, and Spitzer space telescopes are reported for a more complete picture of this new gamma-ray blazar. PKS 1502+106 is a sub-GeV peaked, powerful flat spectrum radio quasar (luminosity at E > 100 MeV, L ³, is about 1.1 × 1049 erg s1, and black hole mass likely close to 109 M ), exhibiting marked gamma-ray bolometric dominance, in particular during the asymmetric outburst (L ³/L opt < 100, and 5 day averaged flux F E > 100 MeV = 2.91 ± 1.4 × 106 ph cm2 s1), which was characterized by a factor greater than 3 of flux increase in less than 12 hr. The outburst was observed simultaneously from optical to X-ray bands (F 0.3 10 keV = 2.18+0.15 0.12 × 1012 erg cm2 s1, and hard photon index <1.5, similar to past values) with a flux increase of less than 1 order of magnitude with respect to past observations, and was likely controlled by Comptonization of external-jet photons produced in the broad-line region (BLR) in the gamma-ray band. No evidence of a possible blue bump signature was observed in the optical-UV continuum spectrum, while some hints for a possible 4 day time lag with respect to the gamma-ray flare were found. Nonetheless, the properties of PKS 1502+106 and the strict optical/UV, X-, and gamma-ray cross-correlations suggest the contribution of the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC), in-jet, process should dominate from radio to X-rays. This mechanism may also be responsible for the consistent gamma-ray variability observed by the LAT on longer timescales, after the ignition of activity at these energies provided by the BLR-dissipated outburst. Modulations and subsequent minor, rapid flare events were detected, with a general fluctuation mode between pink-noise and a random-walk. The averaged gamma-ray spectrum showed a deviation from a simple power law, and can be described by a log-parabola curved model peaking around 0.4-0.5 GeV. The maximum energy of photons detected from the source in the first four months of LAT observations was 15.8 GeV, with no ...
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