Rapid optical and radio brightening of the blazar PKS 0420-014
ATel #2395; U. Bach, L. Fuhrmann (MPIfR), T. Konstantinova, V. M. Larionov (St. Petersburg University), C. M. Raiteri, M. Villata (INAF-OATo), P. Leto (INAF-IRA), R. Casas (Sabadell) for the GASP collaboration
on 22 Jan 2010; 12:09 UT
Credential Certification: Uwe Bach (ubach@mpifr.de)
Subjects: Radio, Optical, AGN, Quasar
We report on an optical and radio brightening of the distant (z=0.914) flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) PKS 0420-014 (RA=04:23:15.8, DEC=-01:20:33.1, 2000.0) observed by the WEBT-GASP collaboration. In the optical band, it was observed at R=14.43 on January 21 (St. Petersburg University), which is comparable to the level of the optical outburst from 1995 (Raiteri et al. 1998, A&AS, 127, 445). Previous data indicate that the source brightness was R=15.44 (Sabadell Observatory), 16.25 and 17.18 (Crimean Observatory) 32, 42, and 52 days earlier, respectively. After a longer slow increase in the radio bands over the last years from about 4 to 6 Jy at 22 GHz, the rate rose abruptly in late 2009. The Noto and Medicina 32m radio telescopes measured flux densities of 5.1 Jy, 7.1 Jy, 9.8 Jy and 10.5 Jy at 5, 8, 22, and 43 GHz respectively, on January 14, 2010. These increased radio fluxes are confirmed by recent observations of the F-GAMMA project at the 100m Effelsberg telescope.
