PKS 0346-27

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PKS 0346-27
Image of PKS 0346-27.png
The blazar PKS 0346-27.
Observation data (J2000.0 epoch)
Constellation Fornax
Right ascension 03h 48m 38.14s [1]
Declination −27° 49′ 13.56″ [1]
Redshift 0.991000 [1]
Heliocentric radial velocity 297,094 km/s [1]
Distance 7.891 Gly
Apparent magnitude  (V)18.63
Apparent magnitude  (B)20.08
Characteristics
Type FSRQ [1]
Other designations
6dF J0348381-274914, PKS 0346-279, LEDA 2823683, OE -278, NVSS J034838-274914, WMAP 129, 4FGL J0348.6-2749 [1]

PKS 0346-27 is a blazar located in the constellation of Fornax. Its redshift is (z) 0.991 and such lies at a distance of 7.8 billion light-years from Earth. [1] This object is also classified as a flat-spectrum radio quasar with its radio spectrum seeming to appear flat with its radio source being first identified in 1966 by astronomers. [2] [3]

Contents

Description

PKS 0346-27 is highly active on the electromagnetic spectrum in terms of emission of gamma-rays, although it can be categorized as a Low-Synchrotron-Peaked Blazar during its quiescence period because of the low spectral energy distribution peak. [2] On February 2, 2018, it was shown to be in a high-flux state with its gamma-ray flux reaching levels of 1.0 ± 0.2 x 10−6 photons cm−2 s-1 upon detection by Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. [4] The next time the object displayed immense activity, was on April 24, 2019, where it reached a new historic high gamma-ray flux level of 3.2 ± 0.3 x 10−6 photons cm−2 s−1. [5] Subsequently, it displayed more renewed activity recorded in February 2020 and on November 24, 2021. [6] [7] An optical flare was also shown in addition to gamma-rays where the object brightened in brightness. [8] [9]

Because of its powerful activity, PKS 0346-27 has been studied in detail. Data from multiwavelength temporal and spectral study showed the object had multiple flaring episodes based by its gamma-ray light curve analysis gather by data collected more than 2 years with its minimum variability time estimated as 1.34 ± 0.3 days indicating the source of PKS 0346-27 is compact. Astronomers also suggested the variability of the flares were caused by emission region interactions through stationary shock waves. [10]

It is suggested PKS 0346-27 is a very-high energy emitter. Based on results, it underwent significant flaring activity on November 2, 2021, with a daily flux level of 1.8 ± 0.2 x 10−6 photons cm−2 s−1, an increase of 200 folds since its average flux measured by fourth Fermi-LAT catalogue. The spectral index of the object measured by High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) was shown to have a soft index with a unit greater than four. [11]

A quasi-periodic oscillation was detected in PKS 0346-27 during the observations conducted between the months of December 2018 and January 2022. Results showed the periodicity is 100 days long and was likely caused by enhanced radio emission travelling in helical direction inside a curved radio jet. The supermassive black hole mass was also calculated and found to be 9.48 x 109 Mʘ. [12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "NED search results for PKS 0346-27". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  2. 1 2 Angioni, R.; Nesci, R.; Finke, J. D.; Buson, S.; Ciprini, S. (July 2019). "The large gamma-ray flare of the flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 0346-27". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 627: A140. arXiv: 1906.08314 . Bibcode:2019A&A...627A.140A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935461. ISSN   0004-6361.
  3. ↑ Bolton, J. G.; Ekers, Jennifer (1966). "Identification of radio sources between declinations -20° and -30°". Australian Journal of Physics. 19: 275. Bibcode:1966AuJPh..19..275B. doi:10.1071/PH660275 (inactive 2 August 2025). ISSN   0004-9506.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of August 2025 (link)
  4. ↑ Angioni, R. (February 2018). "Fermi-LAT detection of strong gamma-ray activity from the FSRQ PKS 0346-27". The Astronomer's Telegram. 11251: 1. Bibcode:2018ATel11251....1A.
  5. ↑ "Fermi-LAT detection of renewed gamma-ray activity from the blazars PKS 0346-27 and PKS 2246+208". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  6. ↑ La Mura, G.; Prince, R.; Collaboration, Fermi Large Area Telescope (December 2021). "Fermi-LAT and Swift observations of flaring activity from the FSRQ PKS 0346-27". The Astronomer's Telegram. 15092: 1. Bibcode:2021ATel15092....1L.
  7. ↑ Mereu, I. (February 2020). "Fermi-LAT detection of continuing gamma-ray activity from the FSRQ PKS 0346-27". The Astronomer's Telegram. 13521: 1. Bibcode:2020ATel13521....1M.
  8. ↑ "ASAS-SN Discovery of an Unprecedented >1.5 Magnitude Optical Flare from QSO B0346-279". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  9. ↑ Marchini, Alessandro; Bonnoli, Giacomo; Bellizzi, Lorenzo; Millucci, Vincenzo; Paoletti, Riccardo; Stiaccini, Leonardo; Truzzi, Stefano; Ventura, Sofia; Da Vela, Paolo (February 2019). "Extremely bright optical state of the flaring blazar PKS 0346-27". The Astronomer's Telegram. 12479: 1. Bibcode:2019ATel12479....1M.
  10. ↑ Kamaram, Sushanth Reddy; Prince, Raj; Pramanick, Suman; Bose, Debanjan (2023-01-14). "Multifrequency variability study of flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 0346-27". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 520 (2): 2024–2038. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stad167 . ISSN   0035-8711.
  11. ↑ Malik, Zahoor; Akbar, Sikandar; Shah, Zahir; Misra, Ranjeev; Dar, Athar A; Manzoor, Aaqib; Ahanger, Sajad; Nazir, Zeeshan; Iqbal, Naseer; Rubab, Seemin; Tantry, Javaid (2025-04-15). "Statistical Insights into flux and photon index distributions of VHE FSRQs from Fermi-LAT observations". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 539 (3): 2185–2201. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staf620 . ISSN   0035-8711.
  12. ↑ Prince, Raj; Banerjee, Anuvab; Sharma, Ajay; Das, Avik Kumar; Gupta, Alok C.; Bose, Debanjan (2023-10-01). "Quasi-periodic oscillation detected in γ-rays in blazar PKS 0346−27". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 678: A100. arXiv: 2308.11317 . Bibcode:2023A&A...678A.100P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202346400. ISSN   0004-6361.
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