MAGIC detects very high energy gamma-ray emission from the FSRQ PKS 1510-089
ATel #3965; Juan Cortina (IFAE Barcelona) on behalf of the MAGIC Collaboration
on 13 Mar 2012; 20:19 UT
Credential Certification: Juan Cortina (cortina@ifae.es)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, TeV, VHE, AGN, Quasar
Following the communication from the Fermi-LAT collaboration on February 1st that PKS 1510-089 (z=0.36, R.A.= 15h 12m 50.5s, Dec.=-09d 05m 59.8s, J2000) underwent spectral hardening in MeV-GeV range (Dave Thompson, priv. comm. to TeV facilities) and ATel #3907 announcing enhanced gamma-ray emission observed by AGILE on February 2nd, the source was observed by MAGIC starting on February 3rd, just before the full moon shut down. The observations were resumed on February 19th and in total ~10 hours of data have been collected. The preliminary analysis of the data reveals a clear signal with a statistical significance of >5 sigma.
The source had been previously detected to emit VHE gamma-rays by the H.E.S.S. telescope array in 2009 (Wagner, S., & Behera, B. 2010, 10th HEAD Meeting).
Simultaneous to the MAGIC observations we have obtained optical R-band photometry and polarimetry with the KVA and Liverpool Telescopes. The source has undergone a minor optical outburst with a maximum brightness of R=15.3 (~2.3 mJy) measured on February 25th compared to a maximum brightness of R=13.1 (18 mJy) during the major outburst in 2009. The optical polarization has remained between 3% and 9% which is within the typical range for this quasar.
MAGIC will continue observations of PKS 1510-089, the next MAGIC observation is scheduled for March 15th. Multifrequency observations are strongly encouraged. Questions regarding the MAGIC observations should be directed to Juan Cortina (cortina@ifae.es).