The June 2008 Flare of Markarian 421 from Optical to TeV Energies

Donnarumma, I.; Vittorini, V.; Vercellone, S.; del Monte, E.; Feroci, M.; D'Ammando, F.; Pacciani, L.; Chen, A. W.; Tavani, M.; Bulgarelli, A.; Giuliani, A.; Longo, F.; Pucella, G.; Argan, A.; Barbiellini, G.; Boffelli, F.; Caraveo, P.; Cattaneo, P. W.; Cocco, V.; Costa, E.; DeParis, G.; Di Cocco, G.; Evangelista, Y.; Fiorini, M.; Froysland, T.; Frutti, M.; Fuschino, F.; Galli, M.; Gianotti, F.; Labanti, C.; Lapshov, I.; Lazzarotto, F.; Lipari, P.; Marisaldi, M.; Mastropietro, M.; Mereghetti, S.; Morelli, E.; Morselli, A.; Pellizzoni, A.; Perotti, F.; Picozza, P.; Porrovecchio, G.; Prest, M.; Rapisarda, M.; Rappoldi, A.; Rubini, A.; Soffitta, P.; Trifoglio, M.; Trois, A.; Vallazza, E.; Zambra, A.; Zanello, D.; Pittori, C.; Santolamazza, P.; Verrecchia, F.; Giommi, P.; Colafrancesco, S.; Salotti, L.; Villata, M.; Raiteri, C. M.; Chen, W. P.; Efimova, N. V.; Jordan, B.; Konstantinova, T. S.; Koptelova, E.; Kurtanidze, O. M.; Larionov, V. M.; Ros, J. A.; Sadun, A. C.; Anderhub, H.; Antonelli, L. A.; Antoranz, P.; Backes, M.; Baixeras, C.; Balestra, S.; Barrio, J. A.; Bartko, H.; Bastieri, D.; González, J. Becerra; Becker, J. K.; Bednarek, W.; Berger, K.; Bernardini, E.; Biland, A.; Bock, R. K.; Bonnoli, G.; Bordas, P.; Tridon, D. Borla; Bosch-Ramon, V.; Bretz, T.; Britvitch, I.; Camara, M.; Carmona, E.; Chilingarian, A.; Commichau, S.; Contreras, J. L.; Cortina, J.; Costado, M. T.; Covino, S.; Curtef, V. et al.
Referencia bibliográfica

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 691, Issue 1, pp. L13-L19 (2009).

Fecha de publicación:
1
2009
Número de autores
295
Número de autores del IAC
6
Número de citas
111
Número de citas referidas
84
Descripción
We present optical, X-ray, high-energy (lap30 GeV) and very high energy (gap100 GeV; VHE) observations of the high-frequency peaked blazar Mrk 421 taken between 2008 May 24 and June 23. A high-energy γ-ray signal was detected by AGILE with √{TS}=4.5 between June 9 and 15, with F(E>100 MeV) = 42+14 -12 × 10-8 photons cm-2 s-1. This flaring state is brighter than the average flux observed by EGRET by a factor of ~3, but still consistent with the highest EGRET flux. In hard X-rays (20-60 keV) SuperAGILE resolved a five-day flare (June 9-15) peaking at ~55 mCrab. SuperAGILE, RXTE/ASM and Swift/BAT data show a correlated flaring structure between soft and hard X-rays. Hints of the same flaring behavior are also detected in the simultaneous optical data provided by the GASP-WEBT. A Swift/XRT observation near the flaring maximum revealed the highest 2-10 keV flux ever observed from this source, of 2.6 × 10-9 erg cm-2 s-1 (i.e. >100 mCrab). A peak synchrotron energy of ~3 keV was derived, higher than typical values of ~0.5-1 keV. VHE observations with MAGIC and VERITAS between June 6 and 8 showed the flux peaking in a bright state, well correlated with the X-rays. This extraordinary set of simultaneous data, covering a 12-decade spectral range, allowed for a deep analysis of the spectral energy distribution as well as of correlated light curves. The γ-ray flare can be interpreted within the framework of the synchrotron self-Compton model in terms of a rapid acceleration of leptons in the jet.
Proyectos relacionados
Project Image
Astrofísica de Partículas
El Grupo de Astrofísica de Partículas del IAC participa activamente en tres grandes colaboraciones internacionales de astrofísica de muy altas energías: AMS (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer), los telescopios de radiación Cherenkov MAGIC I y II, y el Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). AMS es un detector de partículas diseñado para operar en el espacio, a
Ramón
García López