Bibcode
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.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 691, Issue 1, pp. L13-L19 (2009).
Advertised on:
1
2009
Citations
111
Refereed citations
85
Description
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.
Related projects
Particle Astrophysics
The members of the Particle Astrophysics Group of the IAC participate actively in three large international collaborations of high-energy astrophysics: AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer), the Cherenkov radiation telescopes MAGIC I and II and the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory ( CTAO). We also participate in the ASTRI mini-array, the gamma
Mónica Luisa
Vázquez Acosta