INTEGRAL observations of the blazar 3C454.3 in outburst

Abstract

In Spring 2005, the blazar 3C454.3 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 x 10E-10 cgs), 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.

5 pages, 3 eps figures, in press in A&A Letters

Cited by in corpus (25)

• The blazar sequence: a new perspective
• Swift and infra-red observations of the blazar 3C~454.3 during the giant X-ray flare of May 2005
• A new activity phase of the blazar 3C 454.3. Multifrequency observations by the WEBT and XMM-Newton in 2007-2008
• AGILE detection of a strong gamma-ray flare from the blazar 3C 454.3
• Multiwavelength observations of 3C 454.3. I. The AGILE 2007 November campaign on the "Crazy Diamond"
• On the July 2007 flare of the blazar 3C 454.3
• Low energy cut-offs and hard X-ray spectra in high-z radio-loud quasars: the Suzaku view of RBS315
• Swift observations of high-redshift radio-loud quasars
• Multi-frequency monitoring of gamma-ray loud blazars: I. Light curves and spectral energy distributions
• A Possible Periodicity in the Radio Lightcurves of 3C454.3
• Long term variability and correlation study of the blazar 3C 454.3 in radio, NIR and optical wavebands
• Discovery of an Extreme MeV Blazar with the Swift Burst Alert Telescope
• Dissipation of jet bulk kinetic energy in powerful blazars
• Multi-wavelength Temporal Variability of the Blazar 3C 454.3 during 2014 Activity Phase
• INTEGRAL view of AGN
• MAGIC upper limits to the VHE gamma-ray flux of 3C454.3 in high emission state
• Swift detection of all previously undetected blazars in a micro-wave flux-limited sample of WMAP foreground sources
• Simultaneous Swift and REM monitoring of the blazar PKS0537-441 in 2005
• ROXA J081009.9+384757.0: a $10^{47}$ erg/s blazar with hard X-ray synchrotron peak or a new type of radio loud AGN?
• High Energy Polarization of Blazars : Detection Prospects
• Spectral index-mass accretion rate correlation and evaluation of black hole masses in AGNs 3C~454.3 and M87
• Time variability of the core-shift effect in the blazar 3C 454.3
• Revisiting radio variability of the blazar 3C 454.3
• Emission and power of blazar jets
• An XMM-Newton look at the strongly variable radio-weak BL Lac Fermi J1544-0639