Fermi LAT detection of a GeV flare from the radio-loud NL Sy1 PMN J0948+0022
ATel #2733; D. Donato (NASA/GSFC), on behalf of the Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration
on 12 Jul 2010; 15:54 UT
Credential Certification: Davide Donato (davide.donato-1@nasa.gov)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, AGN, Blazar
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 PMN J0948+0022 (1FGL J0949.0+0021, Abdo et al. 2010, ApJS, 188, 405; RA=09h48m57.3201s, Dec=+00d22'25.558", J2000, Beasley et al. 2002, ApJS, 141, 13), a radio-loud narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy at z=0.584602 (Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 2004, SDSS2.C, 0000).
Preliminary analysis indicates that the source on July 09, 2010 was in a high state with a gamma-ray flux (E>100MeV) of (1.3 +/-0.4) x10^-6 photons cm^-2 s^-1 (errors are statistical only), representing an order of magnitude above its average flux during the first 11 months of Fermi observations (Abdo et al. 2010). During this time PMN J0948+0022 has been extensively studied by the LAT and with other multi-wavelength observations (Abdo et al. 2009, ApJ, 699, 976; Abdo et al. 2009, ApJ, 707, 727).
Since Fermi operates in an all-sky scanning mode, regular monitoring of this source will continue. In consideration of the ongoing activity of this source we strongly encourage multiwavelength observations. The Fermi LAT contact person for this source is Luigi Foschini (luigi.foschini at brera.inaf.it).
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.