Fermi LAT detection of a GeV flare from PKS 0244-47
ATel #2440; L. Escande (CNRS/IN2P3 Bordeaux), D. Gasparrini (ASDC) on behalf of the Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration
on 15 Feb 2010; 20:24 UT
Credential Certification: Dario Gasparrini (dario.gasparrini@asdc.asi.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, AGN, Quasar, Transient
Referred to by ATel #: 2458
The Large Area Telescope (LAT), one of the two instruments on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, has observed an increasing gamma-ray flux from a source positionally consistent with blazar PKS 0244-470 (RA: 02h44m13.46s, DEC: -47d03m51.9s , J2000, Mauch T. et al. 2003, MNRAS,342, 1117, z=1.385 A.Abdo et al. 2010 arXiv:1002.0150).
Preliminary analysis indicates that the source on 12 Feb 2010 was in a high state with a gamma-ray flux (E>100MeV) of (1.0 +/- 0.2) x 10^-6 ph cm^-2 s^-1 (statistical uncertainty only). This corresponds to approximately an order of magnitude increase with respect to the average flux of 1FGL J0245.9-4652 which is the LAT 1-year point source catalog object associated with PKS 0244-470.
Because Fermi operates in an all-sky scanning mode, regular gamma-ray monitoring of this source will continue.
In consideration of the ongoing activity of this source we strongly encourage multiwavelength observations. For this source the Fermi LAT contact person is Lise Escande (escande@cenbg.in2p3.fr).
The Fermi LAT is a pair conversion telescope designed to cover the energy band from 20 MeV to greater than 300 GeV. It is the product of an international collaboration between NASA and DOE in the U.S. and many scientific institutions across France, Italy, Japan and Sweden.
