20 years of monitoring: PKS 2155-304 and PKS 1510-089 in the eyes of Swift and Fermi. I. The case of PKS 2155-304

TL;DR

This 20-year multiwavelength study of blazar PKS 2155-304 reveals complex variability patterns, spectral behaviours, and possible additional emission components, highlighting the intricate nature of its particle acceleration and emission mechanisms.

Contribution

First comprehensive long-term multiwavelength variability analysis of PKS 2155-304, combining Fermi-LAT and Swift data to explore flux, spectral, and correlation patterns over two decades.

Findings

Flux distributions are compatible with log-normality.

Optical baseline changed around 2009 without affecting flux distribution fits.

X-ray emission shows a harder-when-brighter trend with epoch-dependent slopes.

Abstract

We present a comprehensive 20-year multiwavelength variability study of the blazar PKS 2155-304, one of the most luminous and extensively monitored high-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects in the southern hemisphere. Using Fermi-LAT $\gamma$-ray data together with Swift-XRT and UVOT observations spanning 2005-2024, we trace the long-term evolution of its flux, interband correlations, and spectral behaviour across the optical, X-ray, and $\gamma$-ray bands. All flux distributions are compatible with log-normality. Interestingly, the optical domain exhibited a notable baseline change around 2009, but this has no strong influence on the fit of the flux distribution. While interband flux-flux correlations are found, no stable temporal lags emerge. This implies varying correlation patterns between epochs. The X-ray emission displays a robust harder-when-brighter trend, however with epoch-dependent slopes, while the $\gamma$-ray spectra show only mild flux dependence. The fractional variability increases systematically with energy within a given radiation component. No direct correlation of the year-wise fractional variability with the corresponding average flux could be found. Interestingly, a pronounced X-ray spectral upturn, detected during a low state in 2012, points to an additional radiative component. As the connection from this upturn to the $\gamma$-ray spectrum is not smooth, it probably is not the onset of the inverse-Compton component, but more likely points either to a hadronic contribution or an additional spatially-separate emission zone. These findings reveal the complexity of variability patterns in PKS 2155-304 and the non-uniform nature of its particle acceleration and emission processes.