It is one of the brightest gamma ray sources in the sky,[2] and is one of the most luminous astronomical object ever observed, with a maximum absolute magnitude of -31.4.

[3] It has the brightest blazar gamma ray flare recorded, twice as bright as the Vela Pulsar in the Milky Way galaxy.

Swift, RXTE and the new gamma-ray AGILE spacecraft responded to this target of opportunity, and were joined by observatories around the world.

The Fermi Large Area Telescope AGN science group started a multiwavelength campaign for blazar 3C454.3 (2251+158), in July and continuing through August 2007.

This Ad Hoc Intensive Campaign (AIC) was prompted by brightening in the radio, optical and X-ray.