Fermi-LAT observations of the exceptional gamma-ray outbursts of 3C 273 in September 2009

Abstract

We present the light curves and spectral data of two exceptionally luminous gamma-ray outburts observed by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) experiment on board Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope from 3C 273 in September 2009. During these flares, having a duration of a few days, the source reached its highest gamma-ray flux ever measured. This allowed us to study in some details their spectral and temporal structures. The rise and decay are asymmetric on timescales of 6 hours, and the spectral index was significantly harder during the flares than during the preceding 11 months. We also found that short, very intense flares put out the same time-integrated energy as long, less intense flares like that observed in August 2009.

Corresponding authors: E. Massaro, [email protected]; G. Tosti, [email protected]. 15 pages, 4 figures, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 714, Issue 1, pp. L73-L78 (2010)

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• Bright AGN Source List from the First Three Months of the Fermi Large Area Telescope All-Sky Survey
• The multiwavelength variability of 3C 273
• Multi-wavelength Observations of the Flaring Gamma-ray Blazar 3C 66A in 2008 October
• Does the Blazar Gamma-Ray Spectrum Harden with Increasing Flux? Analysis of 9 Years of EGRET Data

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