A WISE blazar candidate counterpart of the gamma-ray flaring source nearby NRAO 676 (TXS 2159+505)

ATel #4189; F. Massaro (Stanford University), A. Paggi (SAO), R. D'Abrusco (SAO)
on 20 Jun 2012; 07:05 UT
Credential Certification: Francesco Massaro (francesco_mss@yahoo.it)

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Following the Fermi LAT detection of a new gamma-ray flaring source in the vicinity of the the flat spectrum radio quasar NRAO 676 (TXS 2159+505) (ATEL #4182), we searched in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010 AJ, 140, 1868) catalog at the position of the Fermi source for a gamma-ray blazar candidate using the association procedure outlined in Massaro, F. et al. 2011 ApJ, 740L, 48 and in Massaro, F. et al. 2012 ApJ, 752, 61. Our method is based on infrared color analyses using WISE data.

According to our association procedure the best candidate to be the low energy counterpart of the new gamma-ray flaring source, with IR colors typical of gamma-ray blazars, within the Fermi positional uncertainty is WISE J220143.53+504856.5 and its coordinates are:
R.A.(J2000) = 22h01m43.53s (330.4313821 deg)
Dec. (J2000) = +50d48m56.55s (+50.8157091 deg).

As reported in the WISE All-sky catalog (available at http://wise2.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/release/allsky/ ), WISE J220143.53+504856.5 is detected in all four energy bands with the following magnitudes:
m(3.4 micron) = 14.757 +/- 0.033
m(4.6 micron) = 13.433 +/- 0.031
m(12 micron) = 10.262 +/- 0.044
m(22 micron) = 7.744 +/- 0.119

The WISE gamma-ray blazar candidate (WISE J220143.53+504856.5) is positionally consistent (0.181 arcsec offset) with the VLBI position of TXS 2159+505 (R.A. (J2000): 22h01m43.54s, Dec. (J2000): +50d48m56.4s) reported in Beasley et al. (2002, ApJS, 141, 13), which was indicated as a possible low energy counterpart of the Fermi transient (ATel# 4182). We conclude that the new Fermi flaring source is most probably associated to TXS 2159+505. In addition, we noticed that WISE J220143.53+504856.5 lies 0.0757 deg from the gamma-ray position reported in ATel# 4182

This analysis makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Additional details concerning the association procedure can be found in D'Abrusco, R. et al. 2012 ApJ, 748, 68; Massaro, F. et al. 2012 ApJ, 750, 138; Massaro, F., et al. 2012 ApJ, 750L, 35.