Gamma-ray blazars: the view from AGILE
Abstract
During the first 3 years of operation the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector onboard the AGILE satellite detected several blazars in a high gamma-ray state: 3C 279, 3C 454.3, PKS 1510-089, S5 0716+714, 3C 273, W Comae, Mrk 421 and PKS 0537-441. Thanks to the rapid dissemina-tion of our alerts, we were able to obtain multiwavelength data from other observatories such as Spitzer, Swift, XMM-Newton, RXTE, Suzaku, INTEGRAL, MAGIC, VERITAS, and ARGO as well as radio-to-optical coverage by means of the GASP Project of the WEBT and the REM Telescope. This large multifrequency coverage gave us the opportunity to study the variabil-ity correlations between the emission at different frequencies and to obtain truly simultaneous spectral energy distributions of these sources from radio to gamma-ray energy bands, investi-gating the different mechanisms responsible for their emission and uncovering in some cases a more complex behaviour with respect to the standard models. We present an overview of the most interesting AGILE results on these gamma-ray blazars together with the multifrequency data collected and the theoretical implications for the emission mechanisms.
- Publication:
-
38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010cosp...38.2240D