Fermi LAT detection of increasing gamma-ray emission from the radio-loud NLSy1 PKS 1502+036
ATel #8447; Filippo D'Ammando (DIFA - University of Bologna, INAF-IRA) and Stefano Ciprini (ASDC Rome & INFN Perugia, Italy) on behalf of the Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration
on 22 Dec 2015; 07:12 UT
Credential Certification: Filippo D'Ammando (filippo.dammando@fisica.unipg.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Request for Observations, AGN, Black Hole, Blazar
Referred to by ATel #: 8450
The Large Area Telescope (LAT), on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, has observed gamma-ray flaring activity from a source positionally consistent with the radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 PKS 1502+036 (also known as 3FGL J1505.1+0326, Acero et al. 2015, ApJS, 218, 23), with radio coordinates (J2000.0), R.A.: 226.2769879 deg, Dec.: 3.4418922 deg (Fey et al. 2004, AJ, 127, 3587) at redshift z = 0.4078 (Hewett & Wild 2010, MNRAS, 405, 2302).
Preliminary analysis indicates that the source on 2015 December 19 brightened in gamma rays with a daily flux (E > 100 MeV) of (0.6+/-0.2)x10^-6 ph cm^-2 s^-1. On 2015 December 20 the source reached a daily flux of (0.9+/-0.2)x10^-6 ph cm^-2 s^-1 (errors are statistical only), about a factor of 17 greater than the average flux reported in the 3FGL catalog. The corresponding photon spectral index is 2.6+/-0.2, comparable to the average value of 2.61+/-0.05 reported in the 3FGL catalog.
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 person is F. D'Ammando (dammando@ira.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.
