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Bright optical flare in Gamma-source PKS 1510-089

ATel #9513; Jankowsky F., Mohamed M., Schwemmer S., Wagner S., Zacharias M.
on 20 Sep 2016; 09:35 UT
Credential Certification: Stefan J. Wagner (swagner@lsw.uni-heidelberg.de)

Subjects: Optical, Gamma Ray, >GeV, TeV, VHE, AGN, Blazar, Quasar

Referred to by ATel #: 9520

Optical observations of the VHE gamma-ray bright, flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 1510-089 (z=0.36) with the Automatic Telescope for Optical Monitoring (ATOM) in Namibia reveal a significant brightening. The source increased in optical flux since August 1, 2016 and showed flares of increasing brightness (see e.g. ATEL 9455). In the course of five days, the optical magnitude in R-band increased from 15.11±0.03 on 2016-09-13 (MJD 57644.81) to 13.960±0.006 on 2016-09-18 (MJD 57649.80). Accompanying B-band observations show a change in B-R from 0.84±0.05 to 1.07±0.03. Observations on 2016-09-19 reveal fast (t < 1h) variations. PKS 1510-089 has reached an optical brightness similar to the major flares in 2009 and 2015. Its current activity exceeds the flare reported earlier this year in ATel #9102 by more than a magnitude. ATOM is a 75cm telescope located at the H.E.S.S. site in the Khomas Highlands in Namibia. It regularly monitors galactic and extragalactic gamma-ray emitters.