X-Ray Flaring Activity of MRK 421 in the First Half of 2013

Abstract

We present the results of the Swift and NuSTAR observations of the nearby BL Lac object Mrk 421 during 2013 January-June. The source exhibited a strong long-term variability in the 0.3-10 keV and 3-79 keV bands with the maximum-to-minimum daily-binned flux ratios of 22 and 95, respectively, in about 3 months, mainly due to unprecedented strong X-ray outbursts by more than an order of magnitude in both bands within 2 weeks in 2013 April when the 0.3-10 keV count rate exceeded the level of 200 cts s<SUP>-1</SUP> for the first time, and Mrk 421 became one of the brightest sources in the X-ray sky. The source was also very active on intra-day timescales, and it showed flux doubling and halving timescales of 1.16-7.20 hr and 1.04-3.54 hr, respectively. On some occasions, the flux varied by 4%-23% within 300-840 s. During this period, the source also exhibited some of the most extreme X-ray spectral variability ever reported for BL Lacs—the location of the synchrotron spectral energy distribution peak shifted from a few eV to ∼10 keV, and the photon index at 1 keV and curvature parameter varied on timescales from a few weeks down to intervals shorter than 1 ks. MAGIC and First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope observations also revealed a very strong very high energy (VHE) flare during April 11-17. The UV and HE γ-ray flares were much weaker compared to their X-ray counterparts, and they generally showed significantly stronger correlation with each other than with the X-ray fluxes.