The 2009 December Gamma-ray Flare of 3C 454.3: The Multifrequency Campaign

During the month of 2009 December, the blazar 3C 454.3 became the brightest gamma-ray source in the sky,reaching a peak flux F ~ 2000 × 10-8 photons cm-2 s-1 for E > 100 MeV. Starting in 2009 Novemberintensive multifrequency campaigns monitored the 3C 454 gamma-ray outburst. Here, we report o...

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Main Authors:	Pacciani, L., Vittorini, V., Tavani, M., Fiocchi, M., Vercellone, S., D’Ammando, F., Sakamoto, T., Pian, E., Raiteri, C., Villata, M., Sasada, M., Itoh, R., Yamanaka, M., Uemura, M., Striani, E., Fugazza, D., Tiengo, A., Krimm, H., Stroh, M., Falcone, A., Curran, Peter, Sadun, A., Lahteenmaki, A., Tornikoski, M., Aller, H., Aller, M., Lin, C., Larionov, V., Leto, P., Takalo, L., Berdyugin, A., Gurwell, M., Bulgarelli, A., Chen, A., Donnarumma, I., Giuliani, A., Longo, F., Pucella, G., Argan, A., Barbiellini, G., Caraveo, P., Cattaneo, P., Costa, E., De Paris, G., Del Monte, E., Di Cocco, G., Evangelista, Y., Ferrari, A., Feroci, M., Fiorini, M., Fuschino, F., Galli, M., Gianotti, F., Labanti, C., Lapshov, I., Lazzarotto, F., Lipari, P., Marisaldi, M., Mereghetti, S., Morelli, E., Moretti, E., Morselli, A., Pellizzoni, A., Perotti, F., Piano, G., Picozza, P., Pilia, M., Prest, M., Rapisarda, M., Rappoldi, A., Rubini, A., Sabatini, S., Soffitta, P., Trifoglio, M., Trois, A., Vallazza, E., Zanello, D., Colafrancesco, S., Pittori, C., Verrecchia, F., Santolamazza, P., Lucarelli, F., Giommi, P., Salotti, L.
Format:	Journal Article
Published:	Institute of Physics Publishing Ltd. 2010
Subjects:	quasars: general radiation mechanisms: - non-thermal galaxies: active galaxies: individual (3C 454.3)
Online Access:	http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/716/2/L170/pdf/apjl_716_2_170.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/24759

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author	Pacciani, L. Vittorini, V. Tavani, M. Fiocchi, M. Vercellone, S. D’Ammando, F. Sakamoto, T. Pian, E. Raiteri, C. Villata, M. Sasada, M. Itoh, R. Yamanaka, M. Uemura, M. Striani, E. Fugazza, D. Tiengo, A. Krimm, H. Stroh, M. Falcone, A. Curran, Peter Sadun, A. Lahteenmaki, A. Tornikoski, M. Aller, H. Aller, M. Lin, C. Larionov, V. Leto, P. Takalo, L. Berdyugin, A. Gurwell, M. Bulgarelli, A. Chen, A. Donnarumma, I. Giuliani, A. Longo, F. Pucella, G. Argan, A. Barbiellini, G. Caraveo, P. Cattaneo, P. Costa, E. De Paris, G. Del Monte, E. Di Cocco, G. Evangelista, Y. Ferrari, A. Feroci, M. Fiorini, M. Fuschino, F. Galli, M. Gianotti, F. Labanti, C. Lapshov, I. Lazzarotto, F. Lipari, P. Marisaldi, M. Mereghetti, S. Morelli, E. Moretti, E. Morselli, A. Pellizzoni, A. Perotti, F. Piano, G. Picozza, P. Pilia, M. Prest, M. Rapisarda, M. Rappoldi, A. Rubini, A. Sabatini, S. Soffitta, P. Trifoglio, M. Trois, A. Vallazza, E. Zanello, D. Colafrancesco, S. Pittori, C. Verrecchia, F. Santolamazza, P. Lucarelli, F. Giommi, P. Salotti, L.
author_facet	Pacciani, L. Vittorini, V. Tavani, M. Fiocchi, M. Vercellone, S. D’Ammando, F. Sakamoto, T. Pian, E. Raiteri, C. Villata, M. Sasada, M. Itoh, R. Yamanaka, M. Uemura, M. Striani, E. Fugazza, D. Tiengo, A. Krimm, H. Stroh, M. Falcone, A. Curran, Peter Sadun, A. Lahteenmaki, A. Tornikoski, M. Aller, H. Aller, M. Lin, C. Larionov, V. Leto, P. Takalo, L. Berdyugin, A. Gurwell, M. Bulgarelli, A. Chen, A. Donnarumma, I. Giuliani, A. Longo, F. Pucella, G. Argan, A. Barbiellini, G. Caraveo, P. Cattaneo, P. Costa, E. De Paris, G. Del Monte, E. Di Cocco, G. Evangelista, Y. Ferrari, A. Feroci, M. Fiorini, M. Fuschino, F. Galli, M. Gianotti, F. Labanti, C. Lapshov, I. Lazzarotto, F. Lipari, P. Marisaldi, M. Mereghetti, S. Morelli, E. Moretti, E. Morselli, A. Pellizzoni, A. Perotti, F. Piano, G. Picozza, P. Pilia, M. Prest, M. Rapisarda, M. Rappoldi, A. Rubini, A. Sabatini, S. Soffitta, P. Trifoglio, M. Trois, A. Vallazza, E. Zanello, D. Colafrancesco, S. Pittori, C. Verrecchia, F. Santolamazza, P. Lucarelli, F. Giommi, P. Salotti, L.
author_sort	Pacciani, L.
building	Curtin Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
description	During the month of 2009 December, the blazar 3C 454.3 became the brightest gamma-ray source in the sky,reaching a peak flux F ~ 2000 × 10-8 photons cm-2 s-1 for E > 100 MeV. Starting in 2009 Novemberintensive multifrequency campaigns monitored the 3C 454 gamma-ray outburst. Here, we report on the results ofa two-month campaign involving AGILE, INTEGRAL, Swift/XRT, Swift/BAT, and Rossi XTE for the high-energyobservations and Swift/UVOT, KANATA, Goddard Robotic Telescope, and REM for the near-IR/optical/UVdata. GASP/WEBT provided radio and additional optical data. We detected a long-term active emission phaselasting ~1 month at all wavelengths: in the gamma-ray band, peak emission was reached on 2009 December2–3. Remarkably, this gamma-ray super-flare was not accompanied by correspondingly intense emission in theoptical/UV band that reached a level substantially lower than the previous observations in 2007–2008. The lackof strong simultaneous optical brightening during the super-flare and the determination of the broadband spectralevolution severely constrain the theoretical modeling. We find that the pre- and post-flare broadband behavior canbe explained by a one-zone model involving synchrotron self-Compton plus external Compton emission from an accretion disk and a broad-line region. However, the spectra of the 2009 December 2–3 super-flare and of thesecondary peak emission on 2009 December 9 cannot be satisfactorily modeled by a simple one-zone model. Anadditional particle component is most likely active during these states.
first_indexed	2025-11-14T07:54:00Z
format	Journal Article
id	curtin-20.500.11937-24759
institution	Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category	Local University
last_indexed	2025-11-14T07:54:00Z
publishDate	2010
publisher	Institute of Physics Publishing Ltd.
recordtype	eprints
repository_type	Digital Repository
spelling	curtin-20.500.11937-247592017-02-28T01:39:15Z The 2009 December Gamma-ray Flare of 3C 454.3: The Multifrequency Campaign Pacciani, L. Vittorini, V. Tavani, M. Fiocchi, M. Vercellone, S. D’Ammando, F. Sakamoto, T. Pian, E. Raiteri, C. Villata, M. Sasada, M. Itoh, R. Yamanaka, M. Uemura, M. Striani, E. Fugazza, D. Tiengo, A. Krimm, H. Stroh, M. Falcone, A. Curran, Peter Sadun, A. Lahteenmaki, A. Tornikoski, M. Aller, H. Aller, M. Lin, C. Larionov, V. Leto, P. Takalo, L. Berdyugin, A. Gurwell, M. Bulgarelli, A. Chen, A. Donnarumma, I. Giuliani, A. Longo, F. Pucella, G. Argan, A. Barbiellini, G. Caraveo, P. Cattaneo, P. Costa, E. De Paris, G. Del Monte, E. Di Cocco, G. Evangelista, Y. Ferrari, A. Feroci, M. Fiorini, M. Fuschino, F. Galli, M. Gianotti, F. Labanti, C. Lapshov, I. Lazzarotto, F. Lipari, P. Marisaldi, M. Mereghetti, S. Morelli, E. Moretti, E. Morselli, A. Pellizzoni, A. Perotti, F. Piano, G. Picozza, P. Pilia, M. Prest, M. Rapisarda, M. Rappoldi, A. Rubini, A. Sabatini, S. Soffitta, P. Trifoglio, M. Trois, A. Vallazza, E. Zanello, D. Colafrancesco, S. Pittori, C. Verrecchia, F. Santolamazza, P. Lucarelli, F. Giommi, P. Salotti, L. quasars: general radiation mechanisms: - non-thermal galaxies: active galaxies: individual (3C 454.3) During the month of 2009 December, the blazar 3C 454.3 became the brightest gamma-ray source in the sky,reaching a peak flux F ~ 2000 × 10-8 photons cm-2 s-1 for E > 100 MeV. Starting in 2009 Novemberintensive multifrequency campaigns monitored the 3C 454 gamma-ray outburst. Here, we report on the results ofa two-month campaign involving AGILE, INTEGRAL, Swift/XRT, Swift/BAT, and Rossi XTE for the high-energyobservations and Swift/UVOT, KANATA, Goddard Robotic Telescope, and REM for the near-IR/optical/UVdata. GASP/WEBT provided radio and additional optical data. We detected a long-term active emission phaselasting ~1 month at all wavelengths: in the gamma-ray band, peak emission was reached on 2009 December2–3. Remarkably, this gamma-ray super-flare was not accompanied by correspondingly intense emission in theoptical/UV band that reached a level substantially lower than the previous observations in 2007–2008. The lackof strong simultaneous optical brightening during the super-flare and the determination of the broadband spectralevolution severely constrain the theoretical modeling. We find that the pre- and post-flare broadband behavior canbe explained by a one-zone model involving synchrotron self-Compton plus external Compton emission from an accretion disk and a broad-line region. However, the spectra of the 2009 December 2–3 super-flare and of thesecondary peak emission on 2009 December 9 cannot be satisfactorily modeled by a simple one-zone model. Anadditional particle component is most likely active during these states. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/24759 http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/716/2/L170/pdf/apjl_716_2_170.pdf Institute of Physics Publishing Ltd. restricted
spellingShingle	quasars: general radiation mechanisms: - non-thermal galaxies: active galaxies: individual (3C 454.3) Pacciani, L. Vittorini, V. Tavani, M. Fiocchi, M. Vercellone, S. D’Ammando, F. Sakamoto, T. Pian, E. Raiteri, C. Villata, M. Sasada, M. Itoh, R. Yamanaka, M. Uemura, M. Striani, E. Fugazza, D. Tiengo, A. Krimm, H. Stroh, M. Falcone, A. Curran, Peter Sadun, A. Lahteenmaki, A. Tornikoski, M. Aller, H. Aller, M. Lin, C. Larionov, V. Leto, P. Takalo, L. Berdyugin, A. Gurwell, M. Bulgarelli, A. Chen, A. Donnarumma, I. Giuliani, A. Longo, F. Pucella, G. Argan, A. Barbiellini, G. Caraveo, P. Cattaneo, P. Costa, E. De Paris, G. Del Monte, E. Di Cocco, G. Evangelista, Y. Ferrari, A. Feroci, M. Fiorini, M. Fuschino, F. Galli, M. Gianotti, F. Labanti, C. Lapshov, I. Lazzarotto, F. Lipari, P. Marisaldi, M. Mereghetti, S. Morelli, E. Moretti, E. Morselli, A. Pellizzoni, A. Perotti, F. Piano, G. Picozza, P. Pilia, M. Prest, M. Rapisarda, M. Rappoldi, A. Rubini, A. Sabatini, S. Soffitta, P. Trifoglio, M. Trois, A. Vallazza, E. Zanello, D. Colafrancesco, S. Pittori, C. Verrecchia, F. Santolamazza, P. Lucarelli, F. Giommi, P. Salotti, L. The 2009 December Gamma-ray Flare of 3C 454.3: The Multifrequency Campaign
title	The 2009 December Gamma-ray Flare of 3C 454.3: The Multifrequency Campaign
title_full	The 2009 December Gamma-ray Flare of 3C 454.3: The Multifrequency Campaign
title_fullStr	The 2009 December Gamma-ray Flare of 3C 454.3: The Multifrequency Campaign
title_full_unstemmed	The 2009 December Gamma-ray Flare of 3C 454.3: The Multifrequency Campaign
title_short	The 2009 December Gamma-ray Flare of 3C 454.3: The Multifrequency Campaign
title_sort	2009 december gamma-ray flare of 3c 454.3: the multifrequency campaign
topic	quasars: general radiation mechanisms: - non-thermal galaxies: active galaxies: individual (3C 454.3)
url	http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/716/2/L170/pdf/apjl_716_2_170.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/24759

The 2009 December Gamma-ray Flare of 3C 454.3: The Multifrequency Campaign

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