Gamma-ray blazars: The view from AGILE

• Published in: Advances in space research 2011-07, Vol.48 (1), p.76-87
• Main Authors: D’Ammando, F., Bulgarelli, A., Chen, A.W., Donnarumma, I., Giuliani, A., Longo, F., Pacciani, L., Pucella, G., Striani, E., Tavani, M., Vercellone, S., Vittorini, V., Covino, S., Krimm, H.A., Raiteri, C.M., Romano, P., Villata, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active galactic nuclei; Astronomy; BL Lac objects; Blazars; Earth, ocean, space; Emission analysis; Energy bands; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Gamma-ray sources; Onboard; Quasars; Satellites; Spectral energy distribution; Telescopes
• ISSN: 0273-1177; 1879-1948
• DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2011.02.011

During the first 3 years of operation the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector onboard the AGILE satellite detected several blazars in a high γ-ray activity: 3C 279, 3C 454.3, PKS 1510-089, S5 0716+714, 3C 273, W Comae, Mrk 421, PKS 0537-441 and 4C +21.35. Thanks to the rapid dissemination of our alerts, we were able to obtain multiwavelength data from other observatories such as Spitzer, Swift, RXTE, Suzaku, INTEGRAL, MAGIC, VERITAS, and ARGO as well as radio-to-optical coverage by means of the GASP Project of the WEBT and the REM Telescope. This large multifrequency coverage gave us the opportunity to study the variability correlations between the emission at different frequencies and to obtain simultaneous Spectral Energy Distributions of these sources from radio to γ-ray energy bands, investigating the different mechanisms responsible for their emission and uncovering in some cases a more complex behavior with respect to the standard models. We present a review of the most interesting AGILE results on these γ-ray blazars and their multifrequency data.