SBS 0846+513: a new γ-ray-emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy

Creators: D'Ammando, F.; Orienti, M.; Finke, J.; Raiteri, C. M.; Angelakis, E.; Fuhrmann, L.; Giroletti, M.; Hovatta, T.; Max-Moerbeck, W.; Perkins, J. S.; Readhead, A. C. S.; Richards, J. L.; Stawarz, Ł.; Donato, D.

Abstract

We report Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) observations of the radio-loud active galactic nucleus SBS 0846+513 (z = 0.5835), optically classified as a narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy, together with new and archival radio-to-X-ray data. The source was not active at γ-ray energies during the first two years of Fermi operation. A significant increase in activity was observed during 2010 October–2011 August. In particular, a strong γ-ray flare was observed in 2011 June reaching an isotropic γ-ray luminosity (0.1–300 GeV) of 1.0 × 10^(48) erg s^(−1), comparable to that of the brightest flat spectrum radio quasars, and showing spectral evolution in γ rays. An apparent superluminal velocity of (8.2 ± 1.5)c in the jet was inferred from 2011 to 2012 Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) images, suggesting the presence of a highly relativistic jet. Both the power released by this object during the flaring activity and the apparent superluminal velocity are strong indications of the presence of a relativistic jet as powerful as those of blazars. In addition, variability and spectral properties in radio and γ-ray bands indicate blazar-like behaviour, suggesting that, except for some distinct optical characteristics, SBS 0846+513 could be considered as a young blazar at the low end of the blazar's black hole mass distribution.

Additional Information

© 2012 The Authors. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 RAS. Accepted 2012 July 11; Received 2012 June 7; in original form 2012 April 13. Article first published online: 12 Sep. 2012. The Fermi LAT Collaboration acknowledges generous ongoing support from a number of agencies and institutes that have supported both the development and the operation of the LAT as well as scientific data analysis. These include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Energy in the United States, the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules in France, the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Italy, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Japan, and the K. A. Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish National Space Board in Sweden. Additional support for science analysis during the operations phase is gratefully acknowledged from the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica in Italy and the Centre National d'Études Spatiales in France. We thank the Swift team for making these observations possible, the duty scientists and science planners. This research has made use of data from the MOJAVE data base that is maintained by the MOJAVE team (Lister et al. 2009). The OVRO 40-m monitoring program is supported in part by NASA grants NNX08AW31G and NNX11A043G, and NSF grants AST-0808050 and AST-1109911. This paper is partly based on observations with the 100-m telescope of the MPIfR (Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie) at Effelsberg and the Medicina telescope operated by INAF–Istituto di Radioastronomia. We acknowledge A. Orlati, S. Righini and the Enhanced Single-dish Control System (ESCS) Development Team. We acknowledge financial contribution from agreement ASI-INAF I/009/10/0. This publication makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. We thank the anonymous referee for useful suggestions. FD would like to thank Gino Tosti and Marco Ajello for fruitful comments and discussions, and Paola Grandi who has made the data of her paper available.

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