Optical Variability of the Blazar OJ 287
Abstract
An international collaboration of fourty scientists have been involved in multifrequency observations of the blazar OJ 287, as well as of a few other complementary objects, taken both photometrically and spectroscopically. We present the optical light curve of OJ 287 obtained between the fall of 1993 through the present. Over 1200 photometric observations in the visible were taken between September 1993 and June 1994 alone. The data set represents the best ever observed light curve for any extragalactic object. This light curve shows significant variability down to time scales as short as tens of minutes, and amplitudes as great as two magnitudes. A series of small outbursts were seen from December 1993 through April 1994, and during most of the coverage there has been a slow upward trend in the light output. Analysis of the variability and questions of periodicity are discussed.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 1994
- Bibcode:
- 1994AAS...185.8807S