2004/03/30 by D. Sowards-Emmerd, Roger W. Romani, R. W. Romani +2 · 72 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Blazar #Bulge #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Egret #Galaxy #Gamma ray #Physics #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/421239
published in The Astrophysical Journal 609(2), 564-575 (IOP Publishing) · ApJ accepted
arxiv created 2004/03/30 · openalex publication_date 2004/07/09 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Supplementing existing survey data with VLA observations, we have extended γ-ray counterpart identifications down to decl. = -40^∘ using our Figure of Merit approach. We find blazar counterparts for ∼ 70% of EGRET sources above decl. = -40^∘ away from the Galaxy. Spectroscopic confirmation is in progress, and spectra for ∼ two dozen sources are presented here. We find evidence that increased exposure in the bulge region allowed EGRET to detect relatively faint blazars; a clear excess of non-blazar objects in this region however argues for an additional (new) source class.