NuSTAR, Swift, and GROND Observations of the Flaring MeV Blazar PMN J0641-0320

Journal
Date Issued
2016
Author(s)
Ajello, M.
•
•
Paliya, V. S.
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Kocevski, D.
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Madejski, G.
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Rau, A.
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Schady, P.
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Greiner, J.
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Baloković, M.
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Bühler, R.
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Giomi, M.
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Marcotulli, L.
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Stern, D.
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Boggs, S. E.
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Christensen, F. E.
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Craig, W. W.
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Hailey, C. J.
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Harrison, F. A.
•
Zhang, W. W.
DOI
Abstract
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.
Volume
826
Issue
1
Start page
76
Uri
Url
Issn Identifier
0004-637X
Ads BibCode
2016ApJ...826...76A
Rights
open.access
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