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

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 $γ$-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 $γ$-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 $γ$-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 $γ$-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.