TY - JOUR
T1 - NuSTAR, Swift, and GROND Observations of the Flaring MeV Blazar PMN J0641-0320
AU - Ajello, M.
AU - Ghisellini, G.
AU - Paliya, V.~S.
AU - Kocevski, D.
AU - Tagliaferri, G.
AU - Madejski, G.
AU - Rau, A.
AU - Schady, P.
AU - Greiner, J.
AU - Massaro, F.
AU - Balokovi, M.
AU - Bühler, R.
AU - Giomi, M.
AU - Marcotulli, L.
AU - D'Ammando, F.
AU - Stern, D.
AU - Boggs, S.~E.
AU - Christensen, F.~E.
AU - Craig, W.~W.
AU - Hailey, C.~J.
AU - Harrison, F.~A.
AU - Zhang, W.~W.
PY - 2016/7/22
Y1 - 2016/7/22
N2 - MeV blazars are a sub-population of the blazar family, exhibiting larger-than-average jet powers, accretion luminosities, and black hole masses. Because of their extremely hard X-ray continua, these objects are best studied in the X-ray domain. Here, we report on the discovery by the Fermi Large Area Telescope and subsequent follow-up observations with NuSTAR, Swift, and GROND of a new member of the MeV blazar family: PMN J0641−0320. Our optical spectroscopy provides confirmation that this is a flat-spectrum radio quasar located at a redshift of z = 1.196. Its very hard NuSTAR spectrum (power-law photon index of ~1 up to ~80 keV) indicates that the emission is produced via inverse Compton scattering off of photons coming from outside the jet. The overall spectral energy distribution of PMN J0641−0320 is typical of powerful blazars and, using a simple one-zone leptonic emission model, we infer that the emission region is located either inside the broad line region or within the dusty torus.
AB - MeV blazars are a sub-population of the blazar family, exhibiting larger-than-average jet powers, accretion luminosities, and black hole masses. Because of their extremely hard X-ray continua, these objects are best studied in the X-ray domain. Here, we report on the discovery by the Fermi Large Area Telescope and subsequent follow-up observations with NuSTAR, Swift, and GROND of a new member of the MeV blazar family: PMN J0641−0320. Our optical spectroscopy provides confirmation that this is a flat-spectrum radio quasar located at a redshift of z = 1.196. Its very hard NuSTAR spectrum (power-law photon index of ~1 up to ~80 keV) indicates that the emission is produced via inverse Compton scattering off of photons coming from outside the jet. The overall spectral energy distribution of PMN J0641−0320 is typical of powerful blazars and, using a simple one-zone leptonic emission model, we infer that the emission region is located either inside the broad line region or within the dusty torus.
KW - galaxies: active, quasars: general, quasars: individual: PMN J0641─0320, X-rays: general, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
U2 - 10.3847/0004-637X/826/1/76
DO - 10.3847/0004-637X/826/1/76
M3 - Article
VL - 826
SP - 76
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
SN - 0004-637X
IS - 1
ER -