Fermi LAT detection of a GeV flare from blazar TXS 0943+105
ATel #6292; S. Ciprini (ASI ASDC & INAF OAR Rome, Italy), on behalf of the Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration
on 4 Jul 2014; 23:19 UT
Credential Certification: Stefano Ciprini (stefano.ciprini@asdc.asi.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Request for Observations, AGN, Blazar, Quasar
The Large Area Telescope (LAT), one of the two instruments on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, has observed gamma-ray flaring activity from a source positionally consistent with the flat spectrum radio quasar TXS 0943+105, also known as GB6 J0946+1016, MG1 J094636+1017 and 2FGL J0946.5+1015 in the second Fermi LAT catalog (2FGL, Nolan et al. 2012, ApJS, 199, 31) with VLBI coordinates (J2000) R.A: 146.646125 deg, Dec.: +10.28504 deg (Beasley et al. 2002, ApJS, 141, 13). This blazar has redshift z=1.0045 +/- 0.0005 (Hewett & Wild 2010, MNRAS, 405, 2302).
Preliminary analysis indicates that on 2014 July 2, TXS 0943+105 was in a high state with a daily average gamma-ray flux (E>100MeV) of (0.8 +/- 0.3) x 10^-6 photons cm^-2 s^-1 (statistical uncertainty only), about 25 times greater than the average flux reported in the 2FGL catalog. This is the first high activity state reported from this source since the beginning of the Fermi mission.
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 encourage multiwavelength observations. For this source the Fermi LAT contact persons is S. Ciprini (stefano.ciprini@asdc.asi.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.
