COMPTEL observations of the quasar PKS 0528+134 during the first 3.5 years of the CGRO mission

dc.creatorCollmar, W.
dc.creatorBennett, K.
dc.creatorBloemen, H.
dc.creatorBlom, J. J.
dc.creatorHermsen, W.
dc.creatorLichti, G.
dc.creatorPohl, M.
dc.creatorRyan, J.
dc.creatorSchoenfelder, V.
dc.creatorStacy, J. G.
dc.creatorSteinle, H.
dc.creatorWilliams, O. R.
dc.date1997-11-18
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T02:25:09Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T02:25:09Z
dc.descriptionThe COMPTEL observations of the blazar-type quasar PKS 0528+134 in the energy range 0.75 MeV to 30 MeV carried out between April 1991 and September 1994 have been analyzed. During the first two years PKS 0528+134 was most significantly detected at energies above 3 MeV. During the last year there is only evidence for the quasar at energies below 3 MeV indicating a spectral change. The time-averaged COMPTEL energy spectrum between 0.75 MeV and 30 MeV is well represented by a power-law shape. Spectra collected from different observational periods reveal different power-law shapes: a hard state during flaring observations reported by EGRET, and a soft state otherwise. The combined simultaneous EGRET and COMPTEL spectra indicate these two spectral states as well. During low intensisty gamma-ray phases no spectral break is obvious from the combined COMPTEL and EGRET measurements. For the gamma-ray flaring phases however, the combined COMPTEL and EGRET data require a spectral bending at MeV-energies. By fitting broken power-law functions the best-fit values for the break in photon index range between 0.6 and 1.7, and for the break energy between ~5 MeV and ~20 MeV. Because the flux values measured by COMPTEL below 3 MeV in both states are roughly equal, the observations would be consistent with an additional spectral component showing up during gamma-ray flaring phases of PKS 0528+134. Such a component could be introduced by e.g. a high-energy electron-positron population with a low-energy cutoff in their bulk Lorentz factor distribution. The multiwavelength spectrum of PKS 0528+134 for gamma-ray flaring phases shows that the major energy release across the entire electro-magnetic spectrum is measured at MeV-energies.
dc.description10 pages, 8 postscript figures, latex, to appear in: A&A 328, 33 (1997)
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9711198
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9711198
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/11819
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleCOMPTEL observations of the quasar PKS 0528+134 during the first 3.5 years of the CGRO mission
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