X-Ray and GeV Gamma-Ray Variability of the Radio Galaxy NGC 1275

We analyzed Suzaku/XIS data (2006-2015) and Fermi/LAT data (2008-2015) of the gamma-ray emitting radio galaxy NGC 1275. Correlated brightening of the nucleus in both the X-ray and GeV gamma-ray energy bands was found for the period 2013-2015. This is the first evidence of correlated variability between these two energy bands for NGC 1275. We also analyzed Swift/XRT data and found that the X-ray flux increased over several days in 2010, coincidentally with the GeV gamma-ray flare. During the flare, the X-ray spectra were softer, with a photon index of ∼2 compared with 1.5-2.1 of the other periods, suggesting the brightening of a synchrotron component. The GeV gamma-ray band also showed a higher flux with a harder spectrum during the 2010 flare. Simultaneous X-ray and GeV gamma-ray flux increase in the flare could be explained by the shock-in-jet scenario. On the other hand, a long-term gradual brightening of radio, X-ray, and GeV gamma-ray flux with a larger gamma-ray amplitude could have an origin other than internal shocks, and some of these possibilities are discussed

Einstein@Home discovers a radio-quiet gamma-ray millisecond pulsar

International audienceMillisecond pulsars (MSPs) are old neutron stars that spin hundreds of times per second and appear to pulsate as their emission beams cross our line of sight. To date, radio pulsations have been detected from all rotation-powered MSPs. In an attempt to discover radio-quiet gamma-ray MSPs, we used the aggregated power from the computers of tens of thousands of volunteers participating in the Einstein@Home distributed computing project to search for pulsations from unidentified gamma-ray sources in Fermi Large Area Telescope data. This survey discovered two isolated MSPs, one of which is the only known rotation-powered MSP to remain undetected in radio observations. These gamma-ray MSPs were discovered in completely blind searches without prior constraints from other observations, raising hopes for detecting MSPs from a predicted Galactic bulge population