ASCA and contemporaneous ground-based observations of the BL Lacertae objects 1749+096 and 2200+420 (BL Lac)

Abstract

We present ASCA observations of the radio-selected BL Lacertae objects 1749+096 (z=0.32) and 2200+420 (BL Lac, z=0.069) performed in 1995 Sept and Nov, respectively. The ASCA spectra of both sources can be described as a first approximation by a power law with photon index Gamma ~ 2. This is flatter than for most X-ray-selected BL Lacs observed with ASCA, in agreement with the predictions of current blazar unification models. While 1749+096 exhibits tentative evidence for spectral flattening at low energies, a concave continuum is detected for 2200+420: the steep low-energy component is consistent the high-energy tail of the synchrotron emission responsible for the longer wavelengths, while the harder tail at higher energies is the onset of the Compton component. The spectral energy distributions from radio to gamma-rays are consistent with synchrotron-self Compton emission from a single homogeneous region shortward of the IR/optical wavelengths, with a second component in the radio domain related to a more extended emission region. For 2200+420, comparing the 1995 Nov state with the optical/GeV flare of 1997 July, we find that models requiring inverse Compton scattering of external photons provide a viable mechanism for the production of the highest (GeV) energies during the flare. An increase of the external radiation density and of the power injected in the jet can reproduce the flat gamma-ray continuum observed in 1997 July. A directly testable prediction of this model is that the line luminosity in 2200+420 should vary shortly after (~1 month) a non-thermal synchrotron flare.