The Gamma-ray bright BL Lac object RX J1211+2242

Abstract

RX J1211+2242 is an optically faint (B = 19.2 mag) but X-ray bright (2 - 10 keV flux fx = 5e-12 erg/cm**2/sec) AGN, which has been shown to be a BL Lac object at redshift z = 0.455. The ROSAT X-ray, Calar Alto optical, and NVSS radio data suggest that the peak of the synchrotron emission of this object is at energies as high as several keV. BeppoSAX observations have been carried out simultaneously with optical observations in order to extend the coverage to higher energies. The new data indeed indicate a turn-over in the 2 - 10 keV energy region. We propose that RX J1211+2242 is the counterpart of the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1212+2304, making it a gamma-ray emitter with properties similar to, for example, Markarian 501 in its bright state, though being at a much larger distance.

10 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (16)

• A Unifying View of the Spectral Energy Distributions of Blazars
• A theoretical unifying scheme for gamma-ray bright blazars
• The Connection between X-ray- and Radio-Selected BL Lacertae Objects
• Constraints on the Physical Parameters of TeV Blazars
• Implications of Cosmological Gamma-Ray Absorption II. Modification of gamma-ray spectra
• Extreme synchrotron BL Lac objects
• The Jet-Disk Connection and Blazar Unification
• Variability of EGRET Gamma-Ray Sources
• The FIRST Bright QSO Survey
• The Gamma-Ray Blazar Content of the Northern Sky
• Predicted Extragalactic TeV Gamma-Ray Sources
• Gamma-Ray Pulsars and Massive Stars in the Solar Neighborhood
• Extragalactic Gamma-ray Absorption and the Intrinsic Spectrum of Mkn 501 During the 1997 Flare
• Observations of H1426+428 with HEGRA -- Observations in 2002 and reanalysis of 1999&2000 data
• The HRX-BL Lac sample - evolution of BL Lac objects
• The MAGIC Telescope - Prospects for GRB research