INTEGRAL observations of the blazar 3C 454.3 in outburst
Abstract
In Spring 2005, the blazar 3C 454.3 underwent a dramatic outburst at all wavelengths from mm to X-rays. This prompted INTEGRAL observations, accomplished in 15-18 May 2005. The source was detected by the INTEGRAL instruments from 3 to 200 keV in a bright state (∼ 5 × 10-10 erg s-1 cm-2), at least a factor of 2-3 higher than previously observed. This is one of the brightest blazar detections achieved by INTEGRAL. During the 2.5 days of INTEGRAL monitoring, we detected a ~20% decrease in the hard X-rays (20-40 keV), indicating that we have sampled the decaying part of the flare. The decrease is less apparent in the soft X-rays (5-15 keV). The simultaneous optical variations are weakly correlated with those at soft X-rays, and not clearly correlated with those at hard X-rays. The spectral energy distribution exhibits two components, as typically seen in blazars, which can be modeled with synchrotron radiation and inverse Compton scattering occurring in a region external to the broad line region.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- April 2006
- DOI:
- 10.1051/0004-6361:200600017
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0602268
- Bibcode:
- 2006A&A...449L..21P
- Keywords:
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- galaxies: active;
- X-rays: observations;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, 3 eps figures, in press in A&