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Astronomical Telegrams
ATel #2017| ATel #1976 | ATel #1968| ATel #1957| ATel #1917| ATel #1848| ATel #1827| ATel #1830| ATel #1782| ATel #1775| ATel #1732| ATel #1713| ATel #1705| ATel #1619| ATel #1619| ATel #1592| ATel #1592| ATel #1585|
ATel #1583|
ATel #1582| ATel #1581| ATel #1581| ATel #1574| ATel #1547| ATel #1545| ATel #1492| ATel #1445|
ATel #1436|
ATel #1428| ATel #1394| ATel #1320| ATel #1308| ATel #1300| ATel #1278| ATel #1221| ATel #1199|
ATel #1167|
ATel #1160| ATel #2019| ATEL #2238 | ATel #2242 | ATel #2310 | ATel #2322 | ATel #2326 | ATel #2344
ATel #2348 | ATel #2376
AGILE detection of a gamma-ray flare from the blazar 3C 273 |
ATel #2376; L. Pacciani (INAF/IASF-Rm), F. Verrecchia (ASDC), I.
Donnarumma (INAF/IASF-Rm), C. Pittori (ASDC), M. Tavani (INAF/IASF-Rm), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio (INAF/IASF-Bo),E. Striani (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INFN Roma), S.
Vercellone (INAF/IASF-Pa), F. D'Ammando (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INAF/IASF-Rm), E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, G. Piano, G. Pucella, S. Sabatini, A. Trois, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF-Rm), F.
Fuschino, M. Galli, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi, G. Di Cocco (INAF/IASF-Bo), A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, P. Caraveo, F.
Perotti (INAF/IASF-Mi), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF/OA-Cagliari), G.
Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), A.
Morselli, P. Picozza (INFN and Univ. RomaTor Vergata), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN and Univ.
Roma Sapienza), P.W. Cattaneo, A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), F. Lucarelli, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI) on 8 Jan 2010; 19:02 UT Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations) Password Certification: Donnarumma Immacolata
(immacolata.donnarumma@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, Request for Observations, AGN, Quasars
AGILE is detecting significant gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from a source positionally consistent with the the blazar 3C 273.
Integrating from 2010-01-06 16:50 UT to 2010-01-08 07:50 UT, a quicklook maximum likelihood analysis yields a detection of 3C 273 at a significance level of about 5.0 sigma, and flux F = (450 +/- 140)e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100 MeV),
The most recent gamma-ray detection of significant emission from 3C
273 was reported by Fermi/LAT (ATel#2200) in September 2009, at a level comparable with our detection.
The AGILE detection was obtained with the satellite observing in a spinning mode, surveying a large fraction of the sky every day.
Multifrequency observations of 3C 273 are encouraged. |
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AGILE detection of a gamma-ray flare from the blazar PKS 1222+216 |
ATel #2348; F. Verrecchia (ASDC), E. Striani (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INFN Roma), M. Tavani (INAF/IASF-Rm), C. Pittori, P. Santolamazza, F. Lucarelli (ASDC), S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF-Pa), F. D'Ammando (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INAF/IASF-Rm), I. Donnarumma, V. Vittorini, E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, P. Soffitta, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, G. Piano, G. Pucella, S. Sabatini, A. Trois (INAF/IASF-Rm), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, F. Fuschino, M. Galli, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi, G. Di Cocco (INAF/IASF-Bo), A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, P. Caraveo, F. Perotti (INAF/IASF-Mi), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF/OA-Cagliari), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), A. Morselli, P. Picozza (INFN and Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN and Univ. Roma Sapienza), P.W. Cattaneo, A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 15 Dec 2009; 14:33 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Carlotta Pittori (carlotta.pittori@asdc.asi.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Request for Observations, AGN, Quasars
AGILE is detecting a significant gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from a source consistent with the position of the blazar PKS 1222+216.
Integrating from 2009-12-13 06:00 UT to 2009-12-15 06:00 UT, a quicklook maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID data yields a detection at a significance level larger than 5 sigma and a source flux above 250e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100 MeV).
An increased gamma-ray activity from a source consistent with the blazar PKS 1222+216 was previously reported by Fermi/LAT (ATel #2021) on April 16 2009, with a gamma-ray flux of (46+/-13)e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100MeV), ten times higher than the average 6 months value. This blazar was also detected by EGRET (3EG J1224+2118), with an average flux of (14+/-2)e-8 ph/cm2/sec.
The AGILE/GRID detection was obtained while AGILE is observing the sky in a spinning mode, surveying a large fraction of the sky every day.
Multifrequency observations of the blazar PKS 1222+216 are strongly encouraged. |
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INTEGRAL/IBIS observation of the blazar 3C 454.3 during the decaying phase of the gamma-ray super-flare |
ATel #2344; S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF-Pa), M. Fiocchi (INAF/IASF-Rm), E. Pian (SNS Pisa), M. Tavani, A. Bazzano, P. Ubertini (INAF/IASF-Rm), A. Argan, E. Costa, (INAF/IASF-Rm), F. D'Ammando (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INAF/IASF-Rm), E. Del Monte, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, I. Lapshov, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, G. Piano, G. Pucella, M. Rapisarda, S. Sabatini, P. Soffitta (INAF/IASF-Rm), E. Striani (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INFN Roma), A. Trois, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF-Rm), A. Bulgarelli, G. Di Cocco, F. Fuschino, M. Galli, F. Gianotti, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi, M. Trifoglio (INAF/IASF-Bo), P. Caraveo, A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti (INAF/IASF-Mi), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF/OA-Cagliari), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), A. Morselli, P. Picozza (INFN and Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN and Univ. Roma Sapienza), P.W. Cattaneo, A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi, C. Pittori, P. Santolamazza, F. Verrecchia (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 11 Dec 2009; 16:48 UT
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, AGN, Quasars
Referred to by ATel #: 2345
The INTEGRAL satellite performed a Target of Opportunity observation of the blazar 3C 454.3 following the detection by the AGILE/GRID (ATel #2326) and by the Fermi/LAT (ATel #2328) of a gamma-ray super-flare above 100 MeV on 2009-12-02.
Integrating the data from 2009-12-06 16:41 UT to 2009-12-09 07:46 UT, for a net exposure of about 205 ks, we obtain a detection of the blazar with INTEGRAL/IBIS with a flux F(20-40 keV) = 13 mCrab (9.8E-11 erg/cm2/s), and a flux F(40-100 keV) = 16 mCrab (1.5E-10 erg/cm2/s). The 20-40 keV flux level shows a clearly decaying trend of the hard X-ray emission when compared with the flux levels observed by Swift/BAT (ATel #2330): 20 mCrab on 2009-12-01, 50 mCrab on 2009-12-03, followed by a steady flux level of 30 mCrab.
We kindly thank the INTEGRAL Team for promptly accepting and performing this observation. |
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| AGILE detects an extraordinary gamma-ray activity from the FSRQ 3C 454.3 |
ATel #2326; E. Striani (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INFN Roma), S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF-Pa), F. Verrecchia, C. Pittori, P. Santolamazza (ASDC), M. Tavani (INAF/IASF-Rm), F. D'Ammando (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INAF/IASF-Rm), I. Donnarumma, V. Vittorini, E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, P. Soffitta, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, G. Piano, G. Pucella, S. Sabatini, A. Trois (INAF/IASF-Rm), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, F. Fuschino, M. Galli, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi, G. Di Cocco (INAF/IASF-Bo), A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, P. Caraveo, F. Perotti (INAF/IASF-Mi), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF/OA-Cagliari), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), A. Morselli, P. Picozza (INFN and Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN and Univ. Roma Sapienza), P.W. Cattaneo, A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi,(ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 3 Dec 2009; 16:27 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Request for Observations, AGN, Quasars
The AGILE Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) has been detecting an extraordinary intense gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 454.3.
Integrating from 2009-12-02 06:30 UT to 2009-12-03 08:30 UT, a quick-look maximum likelihood analysis yields a source flux of about (1800 +/- 400)e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100 MeV). This flux value greatly exceeds the value reported by AGILE in ATel #2322, showing a rapid increase (about 80%) of the gamma-ray flux of 3C 454.3 in the last 24 hours.
An optical brightening (R band) during the period between November 21 and December 1-2 is also reported by the GASP-WEBT in ATel #2325.
The AGILE/GRID detection was obtained while AGILE is observing in spinning mode, surveying a large fraction of the sky each day. Multifrequency observations of the source are strongly encouraged. |
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| AGILE detects intense and prolonged gamma-ray activity from the FSRQ 3C 454.3 |
ATel #2322; E. Striani (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INFN Roma), S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF-Pa), F. Verrecchia, C. Pittori, P. Santolamazza (ASDC), M. Tavani (INAF/IASF-Rm), F. D'Ammando (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INAF/IASF-Rm), I. Donnarumma, V. Vittorini, E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, P. Soffitta, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, G. Piano, G. Pucella, S. Sabatini, A. Trois (INAF/IASF-Rm), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, F. Fuschino, M. Galli, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi, G. Di Cocco (INAF/IASF-Bo), A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, P. Caraveo, F. Perotti (INAF/IASF-Mi), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF/OA-Cagliari), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), A. Morselli, P. Picozza (INFN and Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN and Univ. Roma Sapienza), P.W. Cattaneo, A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi,(ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 2 Dec 2009; 16:36 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it) Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Request for Observations, AGN, Quasars The AGILE Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) has been detecting prolonged flaring gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 454.3. Integrating from 2009-11-26 01:00UT to 2009-12-02 08:30UT, a quick-look maximum likelihood analysis yields a source flux of about 700e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100 MeV), with a peak in the last 48 hours of the order of 1000e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100 MeV). This source behavior is different from what previously reported both by AGILE on a 2-year time-span (ATel #1160; ATel #1167; ATel #1278; ATel #1300; ATel #1545; ATel #1581; ATel #1592; ATel #1628; see also Vercellone et al., 2008, ApJL, 676, 13; Vercellone et al., 2009, ApJ, 690, 1018; Donnarumma et al., 2009, ApJ, in press [ArXiv:0910.4883]), and by Fermi during its first year (ATel #1628; ATel #2200). It is similar to what reported in (Abdo et al., 2009, ApJ, 699, 817) when the source exhibited a flare at a flux level of about 1200e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100 MeV), and its flux remained above 700e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100 MeV) for about 1 week. The AGILE/GRID detection was obtained while AGILE is observing in spinning mode, surveying a large fraction of the sky each day. Multifrequency observations of the source are encouraged. |
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| AGILE confirms high gamma-ray state of GB6 B1310+4844 |
ATel #2310; A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio (INAF/IASF-Bo), S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF-Pa), M. Tavani (INAF/IASF-Rm), E. Striani (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INFN Roma), F. Verrecchia, C. Pittori, P. Santolamazza (ASDC), F. D'Ammando (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INAF/IASF-Rm), I. Donnarumma (INAF/IASF-Rm), V. Vittorini, E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, P. Soffitta, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, G. Piano, G. Pucella, S. Sabatini, A. Trois (INAF/IASF-Rm), F. Fuschino, M. Galli, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi, G. Di Cocco (INAF/IASF-Bo), A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, P. Caraveo, F. Perotti (INAF/IASF-Mi), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF/OA-Cagliari), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), A. Morselli, P. Picozza (INFN and Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN and Univ. Roma Sapienza), P.W. Cattaneo, A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi,(ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 23 Nov 2009; 13:04 UT
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, AGN, Quasars
The AGILE Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) detected significant gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from a source consistent with the blazar GB6 B1310+4844, recently reported in a high gamma-ray state by Fermi/LAT on Nov. 18 2009 (Sokolovsky et al., ATel #2306).
Integrating from 2009-11-20 17:00 UT to 2009-11-22 17:00 UT, a maximum likelihood analysis shows a detection at a significance level above 4.7 sigma, with a source flux above 100 e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100 MeV), confirming the current high gamma-ray state of the source.
A maximum likelihood analysis from 2009-11-18 17:00 UT to 2009-11-22 17:00 UT shows an AGILE detection at a significance level above 6 sigma.
The AGILE/GRID detection was obtained while AGILE is observing in spinning mode, surveying a large fraction of the sky each day.
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| AGILE detection of the gamma-ray blazar PKS 1830-211 |
ATel #2242; E. Striani (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), F. Verrecchia, C. Pittori (ASDC), M. Tavani (INAF/IASF-Rm), F. D'Ammando (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata and INAF/IASF-Rm), I. Donnarumma (INAF/IASF-Rm), S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF-Pa), V. Vittorini, E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, P. Soffitta, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, G. Piano, G. Pucella, S. Sabatini, A. Trois (INAF/IASF-Rm), A. Bulgarelli, F. Fuschino, M. Galli, F. Gianotti, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco (INAF/IASF-Bo), A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, P. Caraveo, F. Perotti (INAF/IASF-Mi), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF/OA-Cagliari), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), A. Morselli, P. Picozza (INFN and Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN and Univ. Roma Sapienza), P.W. Cattaneo, A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi,(ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 14 Oct 2009; 18:33 UT
Password Certification: Carlotta Pittori (carlotta.pittori@asdc.asi.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, AGN, Quasars
During the current AGILE pointing centered near the Galactic Center, the AGILE Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) has detected significant gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from a gamma-ray source positionally consistent with the blazar PKS 1830-211.
Integrating from 2009-10-12 00:03 UT to to 2009-10-13 04:57 UT, a maximum likelihood analysis shows a detection at a significance level above 5 sigma, with a source flux reaching a gamma-ray flux of (160+/-50) e-8 ph/cm2/sec above 100 MeV.
By integrating on a longer time-span, between 2009-10-05 04:50 UT and 2009-10-11 03:39 UT, AGILE/GRID detects PKS 1830-211 at a significance level above 3 sigma with an average flux of about 40 e-8 ph/cm2/sec.
There is evidence of significant spectral variability above 100 MeV during the last 7 days. We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of PKS 1830-211, while AGILE will keep pointing the Galactic center until 2009-10-15 12:00 UT.
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SuperAGILE detection of a type I X-ray burst from a position
consistent with HETE J1900.1-2455 |
ATEL #2238 Y. Evangelista, E. Del Monte, M. Feroci, L. Pacciani, E. Costa,
I. Donnarumma, I. Lapshov, F. Lazzarotto, M. Rapisarda, P. Soffitta,
A. Argan, A. Trois , M. Tavani, G. Piano, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando,
S. Sabatini, E. Striani, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Bulgarelli,
F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino,
M. Marisaldi, M. Galli (INAF/IASF Bologna), A. Chen, A. Giuliani,
S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Pellizzoni,
M. Pilia (OAC/INAF Cagliari), S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF Palermo),
G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste),
P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria),
P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia) and
C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, P. Santolamazza, P. Giommi (ASDC) and
L. Salotti (ASI)
Queries: marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it
Posted: 9 Oct 2009; 22:05 UT
Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binaries, Neutron Stars,
Transients On 9 October 2009 02:57:43 UT SuperAGILE detected a type I X-ray burst
from a sky position consistent with the accreting millisecond pulsar HETE J1900.1-2455. The burst was significantly detected only at energies below
28 keV, as typical of type I X-ray bursts in SuperAGILE, due to their
soft energy spectrum. The burst profile is double-peaked, with a total
duration of about 13 s, similar to previous bursts from this source (e.g.,
Suzuki et al. PASJ 2007 or Falanga et al. A&A 2008). Using the data
in the energy range 17-25 keV, we measure an average burst flux of 1.3e-8
erg/cm2/s (under the assumption of a Crab-like energy spectrum). The
latest notified X-ray burst from this source was on April 2009 (Watts
et al., ATel #2004). The persistent emission from HETE J1900.1-2455 is
currently detected by SuperAGILE at an average flux level of about
50 mCrab (20-60 keV), on daily integrations. The source localization by SuperAGILE is composed by two one-dimensional
projections. One of the two projections of the detected burst position
is unambiguously consistent with the position of HETE J1900.1-2455. The
other 1D image shows a potential ambiguity due to a secondary peak, possibly
due to a statistical fluctuation. In the hypothesis of a source identification
with this secondary peak, the burst localization would be (RA,Dec)
=(294.3635, -23.7796), with an error radius of 6 arcmin. This position
corresponds to Galactic coordinates (l,b)=(15.845,-20.260) and it has
no known source counterpart yet. We however consider the association with HETE J1900.1-2455 more likely. |
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| Swift detection of an X-ray transient possibly associated with IGR J17354-3255 |
ATel #2019; S. Vercellone (INAF-IASF Palermo), F. D'Ammando, E. Striani, M. Tavani (INAF-IASF Roma), S. Sabatini (INFN Roma-2), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio (INAF-IASF Bologna), M. Feroci, F. Lazzarotto, E. Del Monte (INAF-IASF Roma), C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia (ASDC), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF-OACagliari), A. Chen, A. Giuliani (INAF-IASF Milano), G. Piano, G. Pucella, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF-IASF Roma), M. Marisaldi, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Galli (INAF-IASF Bologna), P. Caraveo, S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF-IASF Milano), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI), P. Romano (INAF-IASF Palermo), D.N. Burrows (PSU), N. Gehrels (GSFC)
on 17 Apr 2009; 21:11 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Transients
Referred to by ATel #: 2022
Following the AGILE/GRID detection of the candidate gamma-ray transient AGL J1734-3310 (Bulgarelli et al., ATel #2017), whose position is consistent with the INTEGRAL unidentified source IGR J17354-3255 (Kuulkers et al., ATel #874), we performed a Swift target of opportunity observation on the INTEGRAL source.
The field was observed with Swift/XRT for 5.3 ks from 2009-04-17 01:08:59 to 2009-04-17 07:57:56 UT. Within the 4 arcmin INTEGRAL error circle we detected two sources.
Source #1 (RA, DEC) = (17 35 27.16, -32 55 48.9) with an estimated error radius of 3.7 arcsec (90% c.l.). The source was detected with a mean count rate of CR = (1.14 +/- 0.07)E-01 counts/s. Throughout the observation, the count rate shows an increasing trend from 0.016 to 0.15 counts/s, hence displaying a dynamic range of the order of ten in about seven hours. The spectrum can be fit (reduced chi^2/dof = 1.06/15) with an absorbed blackbody with a temperature kT = 1.4 (-0.1, +0.3) keV and a high absorption column of NH = (5+/-2)E22 cm^-2, in excess of the Galactic one (1.2E22 cm^-2). The observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux is 1.1E-11 (1.6E-11) erg/cm^2/s.
Source #2 (RA, DEC) = (17 35 18.32, -32 54 22.9) with an estimated error radius of 5.0 arcsec (90% c.l.). The source was detected with a mean count rate of CR=(4.6 +/- 1.3)E-03 counts/s.
Analysis of archival Swift/XRT data (4.4 ks, from 2008-03-11 01:05:20 to 2008-03-11 10:52:57 UT), only reveals source #2 at a count rate of CR = (4.5 +/- 1.3)E-3 count/s, consistent with the one obtained during the most recent observation. Thus, we suggest a persistent nature for source #2, and propose source #1 as a possible counterpart of IGR J17354-3255. Furthermore, we can place a 3 sigma upper limit on source #1 at 4.7E-3 counts/s on 2008-03-11. |
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| The candidate gamma-ray transient AGL J1734-3310 in the Galactic plane. |
ATel #2017; A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio (INAF-IASF Bologna), E. Striani, M. Tavani (INAF-IASF Roma), S. Sabatini (INFN Roma-2), S. Vercellone (INAF-IASF Palermo), M. Feroci, F. Lazzarotto, E. Del Monte (INAF-IASF Roma), C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia (ASDC), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF-OACagliari), A. Chen, A. Giuliani (INAF-IASF Milano), F. D'Ammando, G. Piano, G. Pucella, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF-IASF Roma), M. Marisaldi, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Galli (INAF-IASF Bologna), P. Caraveo, S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF-IASF Milano), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI).
on 17 Apr 2009; 18:23 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, Request for Observations, Transients
Referred to by ATel #: 2019, 2022
During the current AGILE pointing centered near the Aquila field the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) detected a possible candidate gamma-ray transient.
Integrating from 2009-04-14 00:00 UT to 2009-04-15 00:00 UT, a preliminary maximum likelihood analysis for energies above 100 MeV shows a detection at a significance level above 4.5 sigma and a flux excess of about 350e-8 +/- 100 ph/cm2/s. The source is not detected at energies above 400 MeV.
The source positional error box is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 355.17 deg, b = -0.28 deg (R.A. = 17h 34m 44s, DEC = -33h 10m 38s ) and has a preliminary 1-day timescale 95% confidence radius of 0.65 degrees.
The candidate gamma-ray transient AGL J1734-3310 appears to be consistent in position with 1AGL J1736-3235 and also with the INTEGRAL unidentified source IGR J17354-3255.
A preliminary analysis of the Super-AGILE data over the same time period and the same sky region does not show any counterpart in the 20-60 keV energy range, with a 3-sigma upper limit of 40 mCrab on the average flux.
We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the AGL J1734-3310 field. |
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| AGILE detection of a gamma-ray re-brightening of the blazar PKS 1510-089 |
ATel #1976; S. Vercellone (INAF-IASF Palermo), F. D'Ammando, G. Pucella, M. Tavani, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani (INAF-IASF Roma), A. Bulgarelli, M. Marisaldi, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio (INAF-IASF Bologna), C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia (ASDC), A. Chen, A. Giuliani (INAF-IASF Milano), G. Piano, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF-IASF Roma), G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Galli (INAF-IASF Bologna), P. Caraveo, S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF-IASF Milano), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF-OA Cagliari), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli, S. Sabatini (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita' dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P.W. Cattaneo, A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI).
on 19 Mar 2009; 12:07 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Transients)
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, Request for Observations, AGN, Quasars
The Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar PKS 1510-089, shows a new significant re-brightening above 100 MeV following the previous period of intense gamma-ray activity (see Pucella et al., ATel #1968; D'Ammando et al., ATel #1957).
A maximum likelihood analysis of 1AGL J1511-0809 (PKS 1510-089) data obtained between 2009-03-18 05:45 UT and 2009-03-19 05:33 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV yields a detection significance of above 7 sigma with a source flux of about 400 x 10^-8 ph cm^-2 s^-1. This value represents an increase of more than a factor of 3 within 24 hours compared with the gamma-ray flux level detected during the previous three days (between 2009-03-15 06:21 UT and 2009-03-18 05:45 UT), when the average flux was about 120 x 10^-8 ph cm^-2 s^-1.
We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of PKS 1510-089 during this remarkable gamma-ray flaring state. The AGILE monitoring of the field containing this source is currently scheduled to continue until 2009-03-25. |
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| AGILE detection of a persistent and very intense gamma-ray flaring state of the blazar PKS 1510-089 |
ATel #1968; G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, M. Tavani, E. Del Monte (INAF-IASF Roma), M. Marisaldi, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, A. Bulgarelli (INAF-IASF Bologna), C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia (ASDC), S. Vercellone (INAF-IASF Palermo), A. Chen, A. Giuliani (INAF-IASF Milano), G. Piano, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF-IASF Roma), G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Galli (INAF-IASF Bologna), P. Caraveo, S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF-IASF Milano), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF-OACagliari), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli, S. Sabatini (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI).
on 13 Mar 2009; 13:00 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Tavani (tavani@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, Request for Observations, AGN, Quasars
The gamma-ray source 1AGL J1511-0809, positionally consistent with the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar PKS 1510-089, continues to show significant and very intense gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV (see D'Ammando et al., ATel #1957).
A maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID data obtained between 2009-03-12 07:00 UT and 2009-03-13 05:00 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of above 9 sigma with a source flux in excess of above 400 x 10^-8 ph cm^-2 s^-1. The source positional error box obtained with a 1-day integration is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 351.21 deg, b = 40.12 deg with a radius of about 0.5 degrees.
A sky map above 100 MeV obtained during the March 12-13, 2009 period is available at the web sites http://agile.iasf-roma.inaf.it and http://agile.asdc.asi.it.
We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of PKS 1510-089 during this remarkable gamma-ray flaring state. The AGILE monitoring of the field containing this source is currently scheduled to continue until 2009-03-25. |
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| AGILE detection of the flaring gamma-ray blazar PKS 1510-089 |
ATel #1957; F. D'Ammando (Univ. Tor Vergata and INAF-IASF Roma), S. Vercellone (INAF-IASF Palermo), M. Tavani, G. Pucella (INAF-IASF Roma), A. Chen, A. Giuliani (INAF-IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli (INAF-IASF Bologna), G. Piano, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF-IASF Roma), M. Marisaldi, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Galli (INAF-IASF Bologna), P. Caraveo, S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF-IASF Milano), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia (INAF-OACagliari), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli, S. Sabatini (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 10 Mar 2009; 12:14 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Tavani (tavani@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, Request for Observations, AGN, Quasars
During the current AGILE pointing centered near the Galactic Center the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) has detected significant gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from a source positionally consistent with the blazar PKS 1510-089 (Position J2000.0: RA=15h12m50.5329s, DEC=-09d05m59.828s, redshift z = 0.361).
The source positional error box is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 351.15 deg, b = 40.02 deg with a radius of about 0.5 degrees and it is consistent with the source 1AGL J1511-0809 in the First AGILE Catalogue, identified with PKS 1510-089. This object is classified as a Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar (FSRQ) and was already known as an EGRET gamma-ray source, 3EG J1512-0849. Moreover this source was previously well detected during gamma-ray flares both by AGILE (Bulgarelli et al., ATel #1199; D'Ammando et al., ATel #1436; Pucella et al. 2008, A&A, 491, L21) and Fermi-LAT (Tramacere, ATel #1743, Ciprini et al., ATel #1897).
Preliminary analysis indicates that the source shows a significant increase of the gamma-ray activity starting on 8 March 2009 and a maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID data obtained between 2009-03-08 14:00 UT and 2009-03-10 4:00 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of above 5 sigma with a source flux in excess of 200 x 10^-8 ph cm^-2 s^-1.
A preliminary analysis of the Super-AGILE data over the same time period and the same sky region does not show any counterpart in the 20-60 keV energy range, with a 3-sigma upper limit of 50 mCrab on the average flux. The AGILE monitoring of the field containing this source will continue until 2009-03-25. We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of PKS 1510-089 during this gamma-ray high state. |
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| SuperAGILE detects a flare from the binary source 3A 0114+650 |
ATel #1917; L. Pacciani, E. Costa, E. Del Monte, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, I. Lapshov, F. Lazzarotto, M. Rapisarda, P. Soffitta, A. Argan, A. Trois , M. Tavani, G. Piano, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, S. Sabatini, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli(INAF/IASF Bologna), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Pellizzoni (OAC/INAF Cagliari), G.Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Moretti, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia) and C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, P.Santolamazza, B. Preger, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 27 Jan 2009; 23:03 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binaries, Transients
Referred to by ATel #: 1918
During the current AGILE pointing at the Cygnus region, on 2009 January 27th SuperAGILE detected enhanced X-ray emission from the slowly-spinning high mass X-ray binary pulsar 3A 0114+650 (a.k.a. 4U 0114+650). The source was detected at an average flux level of 110 mCrab (20-60 keV energy range) for a time period of three AGILE orbits (approximately 5 hours total) between 08:50 and 13:50 UT. In the past days the source was not detected by SuperAGILE on the orbital timescale. An integration over the 24 hours preceding the flare provides only a marginal detection (3-sigma) at a flux level of 15-20 mCrab. |
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| AGILE detection of a possible rebrightening of the gamma-ray source AGL J2021+4032 in the Cygnus Region |
ATel #1848; M. Tavani, G. Piano (INAF-IASF-Roma), A. Chen, A. Giuliani(INAF-IASF-Milano), A. Bulgarelli (INAF-IASF-Bologna), F. D'Ammando, G. Pucella, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), M. Marisaldi, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Galli (INAF/IASF Bologna), P. Caraveo, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, S. Vercellone, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli, S. Sabatini (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), and D. Gasparrini, C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 17 Nov 2008; 20:19 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Transients)
Password Certification: Marco Tavani (tavani@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, Transients
During the current AGILE pointing centered near the Cygnus Region the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) has detected a source positionally consistent with the gamma-ray source previously reported in ATel#1585.
Integrating from 2008-11-16 14:33 UT to 2008-11-17 14:22 UT, a preliminary maximum likelihood analysis shows a detection at a significance level near 5 sigma, with a source flux more than two standard deviations above the mean flux reported in ATel#1585. The positional error box of the source AGL J2021+4032 (integrated over the total AGILE exposure of the field) is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 78.3 deg, b = 2.1 deg, and has a radius of about 0.2 degrees.
The AGILE monitoring of the field containing this source will continue until 2008-11-30 12:00 UT. We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the Cygnus field containing the gamma-ray source AGL J2021+4032. |
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| AGILE detection of the gamma-ray source AGL J2030+4043 |
ATel #1827; M. Tavani, S. Sabatini, G. Piano, F. D'Ammando, G. Pucella, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), M. Marisaldi, A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Galli (INAF/IASF Bologna), A. Chen, P. Caraveo, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, S. Vercellone, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), and S. Cutini, C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 4 Nov 2008; 19:29 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Transients)
Password Certification: Marco Tavani (tavani@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, Transients
During the current AGILE pointing centered near the Cygnus Region the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) detected a variable gamma-ray source.
Integrating from 2008-11-02 20:43 UT to 2008-11-03 20:32 UT, a preliminary maximum likelihood analysis shows a detection at a significance level above 4 sigma, with a source flux in excess of about 150e-8 ph/cm2/s for photon energies larger than 100 MeV.
The source positional error box is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 79.44 deg, b = 0.85 deg (R.A. = 20h 30m 31s, DEC = +40d 43m 09s) and has a preliminary 95% confidence radius of 0.9 degrees.
A preliminary analysis of the Super-AGILE data over the same time period and the same sky region does not show any counterpart in the 20-60 keV energy range, with a 3-sigma upper limit of 30 mCrab on the average flux.
We notice the presence in the AGILE-GRID error box of the prominent micro-quasar Cygnus X-3.
The AGILE monitoring of the field containing this source will continue until 2008-11-30 12:00 UT. We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the AGL J2030+4043 field, and in particular of Cygnus X-3. |
| Swift Observation of the Microquasar Cygnus X-3 |
ATel #1830; G. Stratta (ASDC), F. D'Ammando, Y. Evangelista, M. Tavani (INAF/IASF Roma), N. Gehrels (NASA/GSFC), J. A. Kennea (PSU), G. Pucella, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, S. Sabatini, G. Piano, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), M. Marisaldi, A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Galli (INAF/IASF Bologna), A. Chen, P. Caraveo, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, S. Vercellone, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P.Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), and S. Cutini, C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI)
on 6 Nov 2008; 9:46 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binaries
SWIFT observed the Galactic microquasar Cygnus X-3 following the AGILE detection of the gamma-ray source AGL J2030+4043, whose position is consistent with that of Cygnus X-3 within the AGILE-GRID error box, as reported by Tavani et al. (ATel #1827). Very recently radio observations with the AMI Large Array showed an interesting low flux density of the source, which could precede a major radio flare (Pooley 2008, ATel #1828). SWIFT-XRT started the observation of Cygnus X-3 on 2008-11-04 at 04:44:28 UT. Data were taken in Windowed Timing mode for a total exposure of 5.9 ksec spanning a total of three orbits. During the first orbit (about 3 ksec) the 0.3-10 keV light curve shows an average count rate of 40-60 counts/s. During the second orbit, the count rate initially started at a value near 100 counts/s showing an increase by an additional 40% within a time scale of order of 500 sec. The third orbit shows an average count rate near 90 counts/s. The XRT spectrum in the 2.5-10 keV range during the first orbit can be fitted by an absorbed power law model plus an emission line (pcfabs*(power law + gaussian). Best fit parameters are N_H = (15 +/- 1)E22 cm^-2 with covering factor of 0.93, photon index = 4.0 +/- 0.1, E_line = 6.66 +/- 0.03 keV (sigma = 0.1 keV fixed). The average 2.5-10 keV flux is 3.6E-9 erg cm^-2 s^-1. During the second orbit, data can be fitted by the same model from 2.5 keV up to 9 keV, showing an excess at energies above 9 keV. The emission line is no more visible. Best fit parameters are N_H = (11 +/- 1)E22 cm^-2 and photon index = 3.6 +/- 0.1. The average 2.5-9 keV flux is 9.8E-9 erg cm^-2 s^-1. Compared to the previous SWIFT-XRT observations of Cygnus X-3, in which the 2-10 keV flux ranged between 0.78 and 20.2 E-9 (Moore et al. 2008, ATel #1655), the flux now observed is high with a rapid increase of the activity of the source during the second orbit. Further multifrequency observations of Cygnus X-3 are encouraged |
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| Vela X-1 in highly active hard X-ray state |
ATel #1782; P. Soffitta, E. Costa, E. Del Monte, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, I. Lapshov, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois , M. Tavani, G. Piano, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Pellizzoni (OAC/INAF Cagliari), G.Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia) and C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, P.Santolamazza, B. Preger, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 15 Oct 2008; 14:54 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binaries, Neutron Stars, Transients
The current pointing of the AGILE mission at (l,b)=(256,-20), started on 10th October 2008, includes the Vela region. In particular, Vela X-1 lies at approximately 25 degrees off-axis. Between MJD 54750 and 54752 (October 11-13) this source was detected by SuperAGILE with a flux varying in the range 250 mCrab - 1 Crab in 20-60 keV. Starting on MJD 54752.5 the flux showed a large and intense flare lasting approximately 12 hours and peaking at 2.3 Crab (AGILE orbit - 90 minutes - average), with a rise time of about 7 hours. After the flare, the source flux averaged again at about 500 mCrab for one day and at MJD 54753.8 (October 14) started a new flare that is currently ongoing. In its brightest periods, the 283.5-s spin pulsation of the source was directly visible on the raw light curve of the SuperAGILE experiment. During this period of large activity the source also exhibited intense activity on short time scale. A short flare occurred today, 15th October 2008, at 05:49 UT and lasted about 100 s, during which the source average flux was about 4 Crabs. The AGILE pointing to the Vela region is planned to end on 17th October 2008, 12 UT. The SuperAGILE orbital light curve of Vela X-1 may be found at the AGILE Science Data Center website: http://agile.asdc.asi.it/news.html.
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| SuperAGILE detects an X-ray burst from SAX J1750.8-2900 |
ATel #1775; L. Pacciani, E. Costa, E. Del Monte, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, I. Lapshov, F. Lazzarotto, M. Rapisarda, P. Soffitta, A. Argan, A. Trois , M. Tavani, G. Piano, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Pellizzoni (OAC/INAF Cagliari), G.Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia) and C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, P.Santolamazza, B. Preger, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 10 Oct 2008; 13:33 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Transients)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: Binaries, Neutron Stars, Transients
While pointing at the Galactic Center region, SuperAGILE detected an X-ray burst from a position consistent with the neutron star transient SAX J1750.8-2900. This source was recently reported by Linares et al. (ATel #1662) as returning to a quiescent state, based on a Swift/XRT observation on August 14th 2008 (ATel #1662), after a long outburst started on March 2008 (Markwardt & Swank, ATel #1425), during which also SuperAGILE detected the source at hard X-rays at a flux level of about 80 mCrab (Pacciani et al., ATel #1428). The observed X-ray burst lasted approximately 60 sec, starting on 9 October 2008 at 21:26:04 UT. The average flux in the 17-25 keV energy range was about 2.3 Crab, while no significant signal is detected above 25 keV. A search in the SuperAGILE data in the 60 and 600 sec preceding and following the burst provided no evidence of prolonged source activity. The source is currently not detected by SuperAGILE in the standard 20-60 keV energy range, on a daily timescale, with a 3-sigma upper limit of about 20 mCrab. |
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| SuperAGILE detects an X-ray burst from the Millisecond Pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 |
ATel #1732; E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, P. Soffitta, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, A. Argan, A. Trois (INAF/IASF Rome), A. Giuliani, S. Vercellone, A. Chen, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milan), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), and C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 23 Sep 2008; 20:04 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binaries, Transients
Referred to by ATel #: 1748
On 2008 September 23, 16:59:40 UT SuperAGILE detected and localized a bright X-ray burst, approximately 15 s long. The event is clearly detected only at energies below about 25 keV. The reconstructed position is RA=272.0930 and Dec=-36.9624, with an error radius of 3 arcmin. This position lies only 1.4 arcmin from the millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658. This source was recently reported by RXTE/PCA (Markwardt and Swank, ATel #1728) to have entered a new period of activity. SuperAGILE thus confirms the new outburst from SAX J1808.4-3658 and detects its renewed bursting activity. |
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SuperAGILE detects IGR J16318-4848 in a bright state at hard X-rays |
ATel #1713; L. Pacciani, M. Feroci, E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, I. Donnarumma, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, A. Argan, A. Trois (INAF/IASF Rome), A. Giuliani, S. Vercellone, A. Chen, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milan), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), and C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 10 Sep 2008; 20:20 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binaries, Transients
The AGILE mission started today (2008, Sept. 10, satellite maneuver started at 12:00pm) a 1-month pointing towards the Galactic Center region. The first data taken by SuperAGILE showed the Compton-thick X-ray binary IGR J16318-4848 (Walter et al. 2003, A&A 411, L427) in a bright state. The average 20-60 keV flux measured by SuperAGILE is about 300 mCrab, that turns out to be 10 times larger than its average 20-40 keV flux level of 25 mCrab, as reported in the 3rd INTEGRAL/ISGRI catalog (Bird et al. 2007, ApJS 170, 175). A preliminary analysis of the SuperAGILE data shows an increasing trend of the hard X-ray flux. AGILE will continue to monitor the Galactic Center region until 2008, October 10. |
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| SGR 0501+4516: AGILE observations |
ATel #1705; M. Feroci, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, I. Donnarumma, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda (INAF/IASF Rome), A. Giuliani, S. Vercellone, A. Chen, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milan), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, A. Argan, A. Trois (INAF/IASF Rome), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, E. Vallazza (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), and C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 8 Sep 2008; 15:07 UT
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters
The AGILE mission started a Target of Opportunity observation on the new soft gamma repeater SGR 0501+4516 (Barthelmy et al., GCN 8113) on 2008 August 31st, 12 UT. After the first week of observation, only 2 short bursts were detected with SuperAGILE from this source. Under the assumption of a Crab-like spectrum, the burst properties in the 17-60 keV energy range are:
Date Duration 10-ms Peak Flux Fluence
(UT) (ms) (erg/cm2/s) (erg/cm2)
2008-09-03 10:06:38 50 2.3e-6 6.4e-8
2008-09-03 18:53:51 70 1.9e-6 7.6e-8
Other events may have occurred in the periods when the source was occulted to the AGILE view by the Earth (approximately 35% of the time, on the average). Another event had been detected by SuperAGILE through the collimator shields on 2008-08-26 03:16:15 UT (100 ms, very bright, also detected by Konus-Wind, Konus-Wind team, private communication), when AGILE was pointing 140 degrees away from the SGR.
The two bursts of 2008-09-03 were not detected by the MCAL and GRID instruments. The MCAL 3-sigma upper limit is 4e-8 erg/cm2 in the 0.5-1 MeV energy range, over the burst duration as observed by SuperAGILE.
No persistent emission was observed at the position of SGR 0501+4516 by either SuperAGILE or GRID. The 3-sigma upper limit in the 20-60 keV energy range is about 8 mCrab, consistent with the 2 mCrab detection by INTEGRAL (Hurley & Gotz, GCN 8163). The 2-sigma upper limit in the >100 MeV energy range is 13e-8 ph/cm2/s.
The AGILE observation will continue until 2008 September 10th. |
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| GRO J1008-57 entering a new outburst at hard X-rays |
ATel #1619; Y. Evangelista, I. Donnarumma, E. Del Monte, M. Feroci, E. Costa, I. Lapshov, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, M. Rapisarda, P. Soffitta, A. Argan, A. Trois , M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), C. Pittori, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, F. Verrecchia, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 18 Jul 2008; 11:31 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binaries, Neutron Stars, Transients
During the current AGILE pointing at the Vela region, started on 2008 June 30, SuperAGILE detects increasing hard X-ray emission from the Be transient binary pulsar GRO J1008-57, usually below the detection threshold on day-timescale. In the 20-60 keV energy range the source was detected at 30 mCrab level in the 24 hours starting on 2008 July 15 09:00 UT. In the subsequent 24 hours the average flux increased to 45 mCrab, and in the last 24 hours it rose to about 65 mCrab. The last reported outburst from this source dates to November 2007 (Krimm et al., ATel #1298, Wilms et al. ATel #1304), thus the time of the ongoing outburst confirms the good agreement between the recurrence time of outbursts and the proposed binary period of about 248 days (e.g., Coe et al., 2007, MNRAS 378, 1427). |
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| AGILE detection of new flaring activity from blazar 3C 454.3 |
ATel #1592; D. Gasparrini, C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), S. Vercellone, A. Chen, A. Giuliani (INAF/IASF Milan), I. Donnarumma, F. D'Ammando, L. Pacciani, G. Pucella, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Rome), F. Longo (INFN, Trieste), A. Bulgarelli (INAF/IASF Bologna), S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milan), F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, E. Costa, M. Feroci, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, G. Piano, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Rome), G. Barbiellini, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), F. Boffelli, P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 26 Jun 2008; 17:06 UT
Password Certification: Carlotta Pittori (carlotta.pittori@asdc.asi.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, AGN, Quasars
During the current Observing Block started on 2008-06-15 12:00 UT, the AGILE Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) detected 3C 454.3 in high state in the period between 2008-06-25 03:00 UT and 2008-06-26 03:00 UT.
A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis shows a detection at a significance level above 5 sigma, with a source flux in excess of about 200e-8 ph/cm2/s for E>100 MeV.
3C 454.3 was previously detected in high state several times by the AGILE-GRID during 2007 and 2008 (see also ATels #1160, #1167, #1278, #1300 and #1545). A very recent gamma-ray flare episode is reported in ATel #1581.
The AGILE monitoring of the source will continue till 2008-06-30 12:00 UT. We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of 3C 454.3 during this gamma-ray high-state. |
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AGILE detection of the flaring gamma-ray source AGL2021+4029: a possible rebrightening of a strong source in the Cygnus region |
ATel #1585; A. Chen, P. Caraveo, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, S. Vercellone, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli (INAF/IASF Bologna), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia) and C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, P. Giommi
on 23 Jun 2008; 17:31 UT
Password Certification: Andrew Chen (chen@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Transients, Variables
Integrating from 2007-11-02 12:00 UT to 2008-05-01 00:00, AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) detects a gamma-ray point source above 19 sigma, with a source flux in excess of 100e-8 ph/cm2/s at energies above 100 MeV. The source positional error box is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 78.31 deg, b = 2.05 deg, and has a radius of about 0.25 degrees. The nearest EGRET source is 3EG J2020+4017 at (l,b) = (78.05,2.08) with an error radius of 0.16 degrees.
The position of this source is consistent with the transient sources previously reported in ATel #1492 and #1547. We note that although the flux reported in #1492 is significantly higher than the mean integrated flux, the flux during the #1547 is consistent with the mean value. We also note that the position of the proposed counterpart IGR J20187+4041 = 2MASX J20183871+4041003 (ATel #1497, #1498, #1518, #1584) lies OUTSIDE the 95% source location contour of the integrated source.
While pointing at the Cygnus region, AGILE detected renewed gamma-ray emission consistent with this source, beginning on 2008-06-20 UT. A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis of the gamma-ray data obtained between 2008-06-20 16:30 UT and 2008-06-21 16:30 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of about 4.9 sigma, with a source flux in excess of 200e-8 ph/cm2/s at energies above 100 MeV, two standard deviations higher than the mean flux of the integrated source. The source positional error box is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 78.6 deg, b = 1.7 deg, and has a radius of about 0.6 degrees. We note that the position is consistent with the integrated source, while 2MASX J20183871+4041003 lies outside the 95% source location contour.
A preliminary analysis of the Super-AGILE data over the same time period and the same sky region does not show any counterpart in the 20-60 keV energy range, with a 3-sigma upper limit of 20 mCrab on the average flux.
We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the field of the gamma-ray source detected by AGILE in an active gamma-ray flaring state, concentrating on the error box of the persistent source. |
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| AGILE detection of the blazar Mrk 421 |
ATel #1583; C. Pittori, Sara Cutini, Dario Gasparrini, F. Verrecchia, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC),S. Vercellone, A. Chen, A. Giuliani (INAF/IASF Milan), I. Donnarumma, F. D'Ammando, L. Pacciani, G. Pucella, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Rome), F. Longo (INFN, Trieste), A. Bulgarelli (INAF/IASF Bologna), S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milan), F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, E. Costa, M. Feroci, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, G. Piano, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Rome), G. Barbiellini, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), L. Salotti (ASI), and J. Grube (University of Leeds)
on 17 Jun 2008; 12:47 UT
Password Certification: Carlotta Pittori (carlotta.pittori@asdc.asi.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, AGN, Quasars The AGILE Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) detected Mrk 421 in the period between 2008-06-09 17:02 UT and 2008-06-15 02:17 UT during a Target of Opportunity (ToO) re-pointing towards W Comae. A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis shows a detection at a significance level of about 4 sigma, at energies above 100 MeV. During the AGILE ToO, the Super-AGILE hard X-ray monitor detected Mrk 421 in a relatively high-state, with a source flux of about 40 mCrab, in the energy range 18-60 keV (see Costa et al., ATEL #1574). The source is an approved target of the AGILE Announcement of Opportunity, Cycle 1 (PI: J. Grube). |
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AGILE detection of the blazar W Comae in the gamma-ray energy band |
ATel #1582; F. Verrecchia, Dario Gasparrini, Sara Cutini, B. Preger, C. Pittori, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), S. Vercellone, A. Chen, A. Giuliani (INAF/IASF Milan), I. Donnarumma, F. D'Ammando, L. Pacciani, G. Pucella, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Rome), F. Longo (INFN, Trieste), A. Bulgarelli (INAF/IASF Bologna), S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milan), F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, E. Costa, M. Feroci, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, G. Piano, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Rome), G. Barbiellini, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), L. Salotti (ASI), and E. Pian (INAF/OAT)
on 17 Jun 2008; 12:42 UT
Password Certification: Carlotta Pittori (carlotta.pittori@asdc.asi.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, AGN, Quasars The AGILE Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) detected W Comae in the period between 2008-06-09 17:02 UT and 2008-06-15 02:17 UT during a Target of Opportunity re-pointing in response to the source detection in the TeV energy band (see Swordy et al., ATEL #1565). A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis shows a detection at a significance level of about 4 sigma, at energies above 100 MeV. The source is an approved target of the AGILE Announcement of Opportunity, Cycle 1 (PI: E. Pian). |
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Blazar 3C 454.3 in gamma-ray high state: new AGILE detection |
ATel #1581; V. Vittorini, I. Donnarumma, F. D'Ammando, L. Pacciani, G. Pucella, (INAF/IASF Rome), A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF Milan), F. Longo (INFN, Trieste), A. Bulgarelli (INAF/IASF Bologna), S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milan), F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, E. Costa, M. Feroci, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, G. Piano, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois , G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Rome), G. Barbiellini, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia) and C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 16 Jun 2008; 16:21 UT
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, AGN, Quasars The AGILE Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) detected 3C 454.3 in high state in the period between 2008-06-15 10:46 UT and 2008-06-16 07:11 UT.
Despite the fact that the source is currently more than 35 degrees off-axis, a preliminary maximum likelihood analysis shows a detection at a significance level of about 5 sigma, with a source flux in excess of 100e-8 ph/cm2/s at energies above 100 MeV. This source was already detected in the gamma-ray energy band by the AGILE-GRID in July, November, and December 2007 (see ATELs #1160, #1167, #1278, and #1300) and also during the period May 24 - June 9 2008 (see ATEL #1545).
Monitoring of the source by AGILE will continue till 2008-06-30 12:00 UT. We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of 3C 454.3 during this gamma-ray high-state. |
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SuperAGILE detects enhanced hard X-ray emission from Mkn 421 |
ATel #1574; E. Costa, E. Del Monte, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, I. Lapshov, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani, M. Rapisarda, P. Soffitta, A. Argan, A. Trois , M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), C Pittori,F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 12 Jun 2008; 15:42 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Request for Observations, AGN During an AGILE pointing at the North Galactic Pole region aiming at WComae, started on 2008 June 9 18:00 UT, SuperAGILE detected enhanced hard X-ray emission from the BL Lac source Mkn 421, lying approximately 17 degrees off-axis with respect to the center of the field of view. The measured average 20-60 keV flux was 32 mCrab between 2008 June 10 06:30 UT and 2008 June 11 06:30 UT, and 41 mCrab between 2008 June 11 06:30 UT and 2008 June 12 08:00 UT. The latest reported hard X-ray activity of Mkn 421 was on 2008 March when Swift/BAT (Krimm et al., ATel #1449) detected flaring activity from 22 to 110 mCrab in the 15-50 keV energy range. AGILE will continue on monitoring the same sky region for the next 3 days, with both the hard X-ray monitor SuperAGILE and the gamma-ray imager GRID. |
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| Rebrightening of the variable AGILE source in the Cygnus region |
ATel #1547; A. Giuliani, P. Caraveo, A. Chen, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, S. Vercellone, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, E. Vallazza (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia) and P. Giommi, C. Pittori, D. Gasparrini, S. Cutini, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, F. Verrecchia (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 27 May 2008; 17:29 UT
Password Certification: Andrew Chen (chen@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Transients While pointing at the Cygnus region, AGILE detected renewed gamma-ray emission from the transient gamma-ray source previously reported in ATel #1492, beginning on 2008-05-22 UT.
A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) data obtained between 2008-05-22 06:00 UT and 2008-05-27 06:00 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of about 6 sigma, with a source flux in excess of 100e-8 ph/cm2/s at energies above 100 MeV. The source positional error box is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 77.9 deg, b = 2.6 deg, and has a radius of about 0.5 degrees. We note that the possible counterpart IGR J20187+4041 = 2MASX J20183871+4041003 (ATel #1497, #1498, #1518) lies within the 95% source location contour.
A preliminary analysis of the Super-AGILE data over the same time period and the same sky region does not show any counterpart in the 20-60 keV energy range, with a 3-sigma upper limit of 10 mCrab on the average flux.
We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the field of the gamma-ray source detected by AGILE in an active gamma-ray flaring state, including the possible counterpart IGR J20187+4041 = 2MASX J20183871+4041003. |
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| Renewed gamma ray activity of 3C 454.3 detected by AGILE |
ATel #1545; I. Donnarumma, F. D'Ammando, L. Pacciani, G. Pucella, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Rome), A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF Milan), F. Longo (INFN, Trieste), A. Bulgarelli (INAF/IASF Bologna), S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milan), F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, E. Costa, M. Feroci, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois , G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Rome), G. Barbiellini, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia) and P. Giommi, C. Pittori, D. Gasparrini, S. Cutini, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, F. Verrecchia (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 27 May 2008; 13:10 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Request for Observations)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, AGN The AGILE Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) detected new flaring activity from the blazar 3C 454.3 in the period between 2008-05-24 03:10 UT and 2008-05-27 04:17 UT. Despite the fact that the source is currently more than 35 degrees off-axis, a preliminary maximum likelihood analysis shows a detection at a significance level of about 9 sigma, with a source flux in excess of 100e-8 ph/cm2/s at energies above 100 MeV. This source was already detected in the gamma-ray energy band by the AGILE-GRID in July, November, and December 2007 (see ATELs #1160, #1167, #1278 and #1300). Monitoring of the source by AGILE will continue over the next weeks. We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of 3C 454.3 during this new gamma-ray flaring state. |
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| AGILE gamma-ray detection of a variable source in the Cygnus region |
ATel #1492; F. Longo (INFN Trieste), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, P. Caraveo, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois, (INAF/IASF Roma), G. Barbiellini, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), P. Giommi, C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, P. Santolamazza, B. Preger (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 28 Apr 2008; 17:28 UT
Password Certification: Andrew Chen (chen@iasf-milano.inaf.it) Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Transients The AGILE satellite, currently in a Cycle-1 pointing centered approximately in the Vulpecula region, during the observing period that started on 2008-04-10 12:00 UT, detected significant and variable gamma-ray emission from the Galactic plane from a source positionally consistent with 3EG J2020+4017. The AGILE Quicklook Analysis provides the source positional error box that is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 78.01 deg, b = 2.19 deg, and has a radius of about 1 degree.
A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) data obtained between 2008-04-27 01:39 UT and 2008-04-28 01:27 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of about 5 sigma. A preliminary analysis of the Super-AGILE data over the same time period and the same sky region does not show any counterpart in the 20-60 keV energy range. The 3-sigma upper limit on the one-day average flux is 45 mCrab within the central region of the AGILE-GRID error box.
Searches for counterparts in Chandra and ROSAT coverage of the 3EG~J2020+4017 error box (Weisskopf et al. 2006, ApJ, 652, 387; Becker et al., 2004, ApJ, 615, 897) yielded no compelling counterparts. We remark that one of the many possible counterparts within the AGILE-GRID error box is the galaxy 2MASX J20183871+4041003 which has been claimed to have blazar-like characteristics (Iyudin et al., 2007, A&A, 468, 919).
We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the entire field of the gamma-ray source detected by AGILE in an active gamma-ray flaring state.
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SuperAGILE detects an X-ray burst from a position consistent with IGR J17473-2721
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ATel #1445; E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, E. Costa, I. Donnarumma, I. Lapshov, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani,M. Rapisarda, P. Soffitta, A. Argan, A. Trois , M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia) and C Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 27 Mar 2008; 13:41 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice (Transients)
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Binaries, Neutron Stars, Transients During the AGILE pointing at the Galactic Center region SuperAGILE detected a burst from the sky position RA=266.842, Dec=-27.339 (error radius 3 arcmin). This position lies approximately 1.1 arcmin from the position of the source IGR J17473-2721 (Grebenev et al., ATel #467) and approximately 1 arcmin from the proposed counterpart detected by Swift/XRT (Kennea et al., ATel #500) and Chandra (Juett et al., ATel #521). The burst was detected on 26 March 2008, 23:19:40 UT, lasted approximately 40 s and it was significantly detected only in the energy range 17-25 keV. The average flux of the event was about 2.5 Crab. If the identification with IGR J17473-2721 is correct, assuming a distance of 8.5 kpc, the observed average flux corresponds to approximately 0.9 x 10^38 erg/s (17-25 keV), consistent with an Eddington limited flux for a neutron star mass. Considering the intensity, the temporal and spectral properties of the event as well as the spatial coincidence with the source IGR J17473-2721 near the Galactic Center, we propose that the burst observed by SuperAGILE was indeed a Type I X-ray burst, and suggest that IGR J17473-2721 is an X-ray burster.
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AGILE detection of a gamma-ray source coincident with Blazar PKS 1510-08 |
ATel #1436; F. D'Ammando (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Bulgarelli (INAF/IASF Bologna), S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, A. Chen, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois , G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), F. Mauri (INFN Pavia) and P. Giommi, C. Pittori, D. Gasparrini, S. Cutini, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, F. Verrecchia (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 20 Mar 2008; 15:08 UT
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, AGN, Quasars The AGILE satellite, currently in a Cycle-1 pointing centered on the Galactic Center region, during the observing period that started on 2008-03-16 12:00 UT, detected significant gamma-ray emission from a source at approximately 40 degrees off the AGILE pointing direction. The AGILE Quicklook Analysis provides the source positional error box that is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 351.61 deg, b = 40.09 deg, and has a radius of about 0.5 degrees.
We note that this position is consistent with the radio position of the blazar PKS 1510-08 that has been associated with the gamma-ray source 3EG J1512-0849. This source was already detected by the AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) between 2007-08-27 14:48 UT and 2007-08-30 10:50 UT (see ATEL #1199 and ATEL #1204).
A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID data obtained between 2008-03-18 03:00 UT and 2008-03-20 03:00 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of about 7 sigma. During the same period, the source was outside the Super-AGILE field of view.
We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of PKS 1510-08 detected by AGILE in an active gamma-ray flaring state.
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One-dimensional images of the X-ray burst as detected by SuperAGILE
in its two sets of one-dimensional detectors, in the 17-25 keV energy
range. |
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3D synthesis of the two one-dimensional images of the X-ray burst as
detected by SuperAGILE in its two sets of one-dimensional detectors, in the 17-25 keV energy range. |
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SuperAGILE detects the new outburst of SAX J1750.8-2900 a hard X-rays |
ATel #1428; L. Pacciani, E. Costa, E. Del Monte, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, I. Lapshov, F. Lazzarotto, M. Rapisarda, P. Soffitta, A. Argan, A. Trois , M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), F. Mauri (INFN Pavia) and C Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, L.A. Antonelli, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 17 Mar 2008; 15:53 UT
Password Certification: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Binaries, Neutron Stars, Transients
Referred to by ATel #: 1431 The neutron star transient SAX J1750.8-2900, detected in a new outburst by RXTE/PCA on March 15th (ATel #1425), is currently within the field of view of SuperAGILE, which is pointing at the Galactic Center region. The 20-60 keV average flux detected by SuperAGILE during the time period between 2008-03-16 13:00 UT and 2008-03-17 08:00 UT is approximately 80 mCrab. The AGILE monitoring of the same sky region will continue for the next two weeks.
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AGILE gamma-ray detection of a variable source in the Musca region |
ATel #1394; C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, P. Santolamazza, B. Preger, P. Giommi (ASDC), S. Vercellone, A. Chen, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I.Donnarumma, L. Pacciani,E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois , G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, E. Vallazza (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), F. Mauri (INFN Pavia) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 22 Feb 2008; 17:13 UT
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Transients
Referred to by ATel #: 1419 The AGILE satellite, currently in a Cycle-1 pointing centered approximately in the Musca region, during the observing period that started on 2008-02-14 12:00 UT, detected significant and variable gamma-ray emission from the Galactic plane from a source positionally consistent with 3EG J1410-6147. The AGILE Quicklook Analysis (AQA) provides the source positional error box that is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 312.2 deg, b = -0.3 deg, and has a AQA radius of about 0.5 degree.
A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) data obtained between 2008-02-21 06:00 UT and 2008-02-22 07:30 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of about 4 sigma. A preliminary analysis of the Super-AGILE data over the same time period and the same sky region does not show any counterpart in the 20-60 keV energy range. The 3-sigma upper limit on the one-day average flux is 25 mCrab.
We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the field of the gamma-ray source detected by AGILE in an active gamma-ray flaring state.
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| SuperAGILE limits on the hard X-ray flux of the AGILE bright gamma-ray transient in the Cygnus field |
ATel #1320; F. Lazzarotto, Y. Evangelista, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani,E. Costa, E. Del Monte, M. Feroci, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, P. Soffitta, A. Argan, A. Trois , M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), F. Mauri (INFN Pavia) and C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, L.A. Antonelli, P. Giommi (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 4 Dec 2007; 17:35 UT
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Transients
We analyzed the hard X-ray (20-60 keV) data collected by SuperAGILE between 2007-11-09 and 2007-11-23 from the sky region including the bright and rapid gamma-ray transient detected by the AGILE-GRID (Chen et al., ATel #1308). Due to the satellite attitude, one of the two SuperAGILE coordinates is confused by the source EXO 2030+375 and we considered safer to exclude it from this analysis. Using the other coordinate only (half of the SuperAGILE effective area), we do not find any significant X-ray emission at the position of the gamma-ray transient, neither on the orbital, daily or weekly timescales. The SuperAGILE 3-sigma upper limits are 40 mCrab (orbital), 21 mCrab (daily) and 12 mCrab (weekly), including a significant systematics at exposures of one day (50%) and one week (60%), due to the yet preliminary status of the experiment in-flight calibrations.
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| AGILE gamma-ray detection of a strongly variable source in the Cygnus region |
ATel #1308; A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois , G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, E. Vallazza (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), F. Mauri (INFN Pavia) and P. Giommi, C. Pittori, L. A. Antonelli, D. Gasparrini, S. Cutini, F. Verrecchia (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 27 Nov 2007; 19:19 UT
Password Certification: Andrew Chen (chen@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Transients
The AGILE satellite, currently in its Science Verification Phase, during the Observing Block that started on 2007-11-02 12:00 UT, detected significant and strongly variable gamma-ray emission from the Cygnus region lasting only about 1 day.
The variable source positional error box is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 75.0 deg, b = -0.4 deg, and has a radius of about 1 degree.
A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) data obtained between 2007-11-23 03:58:55 and 2007-11-24 03:58:55 for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of over 5 sigma.
A very preliminary analysis of the SuperAGILE data over the same time period and the same sky region does not show any counterpart in the 20-60 keV energy range with an average flux brighter than approximately 30 mCrab.
We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the field of the gamma-ray source detected by AGILE.
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| AGILE detection of day-to-day gamma-ray variability from Blazar 3C 454.3 |
Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, AGN, Quasars
The AGILE satellite, currently in its Science Verification Phase, during the Observing Block that started on 2007-11-02 12:00 UT, detected significant gamma-ray emission from a source coincident with the blazar 3C 454.3, as reported in ATEL #1278. The source continues to be active in > 100 MeV gamma rays, showing variability on day-to-day time scales, with particular activity within the last two days. We strongly encourage continued multi-frequency observations of the field of the gamma-ray source detected by AGILE. |
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| AGILE detection of a gamma-ray source coincident with Blazar 3C 454.3 |
ATel #1278; A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois , G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, E. Vallazza (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), F. Mauri (INFN Pavia) and P. Giommi, C. Pittori, L. A. Antonelli, D. Gasparrini, S. Cutini, F. Verrecchia (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 14 Nov 2007; 10:07 UT
Password Certification: Andrew Chen (chen@iasf-milano.inaf.it)Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, AGN, Quasars
The AGILE satellite, currently in its Science Verification Phase, during the Observing Block that started on 2007-11-02 12:00 UT, detected significant gamma-ray emission from a source coincident with the blazar 3C 454.3. A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) data obtained between 2007-11-02 13:50 UT and 2007-11-12 17:01 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of about 5.4 sigma, slightly over our current, conservatively estimated detection threshold.
Considering that the in-flight calibration of the GRID is still ongoing, and despite the fact that the source was more than 40 degrees off-axis, a region in the field of view whose calibration is still highly uncertain, we encourage multi-frequency observations of the field of the gamma-ray source detected by AGILE. The AGILE pointing of the Galactic plane region that includes this gamma-ray source will continue until 2007-12-01 12:00 UT.
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AGILE detection of a gamma-ray source possibly associated with Blazar TXS 0716+714 |
ATel #1221; A. Giuliani, S. Vercellone, A. Chen, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois , G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, E. Vallazza (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), F. Mauri (INFN Pavia) and P. Giommi, C. Pittori, L. A. Antonelli, D. Gasparrini, S. Cutini, F. Verrecchia (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 21 Sep 2007; 15:53 UT
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, AGN, Quasars
Referred to by ATel #: 1223 The AGILE satellite, currently in its science performance verification phase, during the Observing Block that started on 2007-09-04 12:00 UT, detected significant gamma-ray emission from a source possibly associated with blazar TXS 0716+714.
A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) data obtained between 2007-09-10 13:50 UT and 2007-09-20 10:13 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of about 8 sigma. The positional error box, that does not yet take into account possible systematic effects, is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 143.8 deg, b = 27.6 deg. The 95% confidence level contour has a radius of about 0.4 degrees. The blazar TXS 0716+714, that has been associated with the gamma-ray source 3EG J0721+7120, lies at a distance of 0.44 degrees from the best fit position of the gamma-ray source. We therefore tentatively associate the AGILE source with this blazar.
Considering that the in-flight calibration of the GRID is still ongoing, and despite the preliminary GRID positioning capability at off-axis angles (20 to 40 deg for this observation), we strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the field of the gamma-ray source detected by AGILE. The AGILE pointing of the Galactic plane region that includes this gamma-ray source will continue until 2007-09-23 12:00 UT.
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| AGILE detection of a gamma-ray source off the Galactic Plane |
ATel #1199; A. Bulgarelli (INAF/IASF Bologna), S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, A. Chen, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, M. Fiorini, P. Caraveo, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, A. Trois (INAF/IASF Roma), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo (INFN Trieste), G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio (INAF/IASF Bologna), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest, E. Vallazza (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari (INFN Roma-1) and P. Giommi, C. Pittori, L. A. Antonelli, D. Gasparrini, S. Cutini, F. Verrecchia (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 31 Aug 2007; 16:53 UT
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, AGN, Quasars, Transients
Referred to by ATel #: 1204 The AGILE satellite, currently in its science performance verification phase, during an observation centered near the Galactic plane (l=334.44, b=10.06) that started on 2007-08-27 12:00 UT, detected significant gamma-ray emission from a source at approximately 33 degrees off the AGILE pointing direction. A preliminary maximum likelihood analysis of the AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) data obtained between 2007-08-27 14:48 UT and 2007-08-30 10:50 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV results in a detection significance of about 4 sigma. The positional error box derived from our preliminary maximum likelihood analysis (that does not, as yet, take into account possible systematic effects) results in a 95% contour level centered at the position l = 351.1, b = 39.7 with a radius of about 0.5 degrees. We note that this position is marginally consistent with the radio position of the blazar TXS 1510-089 that has been associated with the gamma-ray source 3EG J1512-0849. Considering that the in-flight calibration of the GRID is still ongoing, and despite the preliminary GRID positioning capability at substantial off-axis angles, we strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of the field of the gamma-ray source detected by AGILE. The AGILE pointing of the Galactic plane region that includes this gamma-ray source will continue until 2007-09-01 12:00 UT.
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| AGILE pointing at 3C 454.3: end of the observations and preliminary results. |
ATel #1167; A. Bulgarelli (INAF/IASF Bologna), A. Chen, S. Vercellone, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, F. Perotti, F. Fornari, F. Fiorini (INAF/IASF Milano), G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando (INAF/IASF Roma), F. Longo (INFN Trieste), M. Prest, E. Vallazza (INFN Insubria), M. Tavani (INAF/IASF Roma), G. Barbiellini (INFN Trieste), P. Caraveo (INAF/IASF Milano), E. Costa (INAF/IASF Roma), G. Di Cocco (INAF/IASF Bologna), P. Picozza (INFN Roma), M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, Y. Evangelista, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda (INAF/IASF Roma), C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Marisaldi, M. Galli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio (INAF/IASF Bologna), A. Argan, A. Trois (INAF/IASF Roma), A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), Lipari (INFN Roma), on behalf of the AGILE Team and P. Giommi, C. Pittori, L. A. Antonelli, D. Gasparrini, S. Cutini, F. Verrecchia (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 2 Aug 2007; 15:52 UT
Password Certification: Stefano Vercellone (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, AGN, Transients The AGILE satellite, currently in the scientific performance verification phase, has observed the 3C 454.3 field starting on 2007-07-24 14:30 UT, and ending on 2007-07-30 11:40 UT. The AGILE repointing followed a significant flaring activity of this blazar, as detected in the optical and X-ray bands. AGILE subsequently detected the source in the gamma-ray energy band during the early phase of the observation (see ATel #1160).
Based on all the data accumulated in 5.8 days by the AGILE GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) on 3C 454.3, and considering that the in-flight calibration is still ongoing, the source detection significance turns out to be equal to 9.9 sigma as derived from a maximum likelihood analysis (note that this significance does not take systematic errors into account). The average flux is consistent, within the uncertainties, with the previously reported AGILE flux estimate (ATel. #1160). A time variability analysis is in progress.
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| AGILE gamma-ray detection of the Blazar 3C 454.3 |
ATel #1160; S. Vercellone, A. Chen, A. Giuliani, A. Pellizzoni, S. Mereghetti, F. Fornari, P. Caraveo, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini (INAF/IASF Milano), A. Bulgarelli, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi, F. Fuschino, M. Galli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio (INAF/IASF Bologna), M. Tavani, G. Pucella, F. D'Ammando, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, A. Argan, A.Trois, (INAF/IASF Roma), M. Prest, E. Vallazza (INFN-Como), G. Picozza, P. Lipari (INFN-Roma), F. Longo, G. Barbiellini (INFN-Trieste) on behalf of the AGILE Team and P. Giommi, C. Pittori, L.A. Antonelli, D. Gasparrini, S. Cutini, G. Fanari, F. Verrecchia (ASDC) and L. Salotti (ASI)
on 27 Jul 2007; 15:45 UT
Password Certification: Adamantia Paizis (ada@iasf-milano.inaf.it)
Subjects: Gamma Ray, AGN, Transients
Referred to by ATel #: 1167 The AGILE satellite, currently in the science performance verification phase, started to observe the 3C454.3 field on July 24, 2007, following the significant flaring activity of this blazar recently detected in the optical and X-ray energy bands.
A gamma-ray source positionally consistent with 3C 454.3 is detected with a maximum likelihood analysis giving a significance of 4.9 sigma in the AGILE GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) data acquired between 2007-07-24 14:30 UT and 2007-07-27 05:27 UT.
Due to satellite constraints, 3C 454.3 is about 36 degrees off-axis. Considering that the in-flight calibration of the GRID is still ongoing, we can only provide at this moment a preliminary estimate of the gamma-ray flux of (3+/-1)*10E-6 ph/cm2/s for E>100 MeV.
AGILE will point at the 3C 454.3 field until July 30, 12:00 UT.
Multifrequency observations of the source are encouraged.
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