2EG J0432+2910, 2EG J0744+5438, 2EG J0852-1237

J. P. Halpern and M. Eracleous, University of California at Berkeley, report optical identifications based on spectrophotometry with the Kitt Peak 2.1-m telescope of flat-spectrum radio sources that have been suggested as EGRET blazar counterparts: "The radio and optical object in the error box of 2EG J0432+2910 (located at R.A. = 4h33m37s.8, Decl. = +29o05'56", equinox 2000.0), described by Lundgren et al. (IAUC 6258), and Condon et al. (1983, A.J. 88, 20) has a very red BL Lac-type continuum spectrum with slope -4.0 and no emission or absorption features in the range 390-750 nm to an upper limit of 0.2 nm equivalent width (EW); from the spectrum obtained on 1997 Feb. 6, it has V = 17.8, which is about 2 mag brighter than on the Palomar Sky Survey. The radio source candidate for 2EG J0744+5438 (located at R.A. = 7h42m39s.8, Decl. = +55o44'25") proposed by Mukherjee et al. (1995, Ap.J. 445, 189) is also highly variable in the optical, having declined from V = 16.9 on 1996 Feb. 16 to V = 18.4 on 1997 Feb. 6; it has z = 0.723, based on weak emission lines in the low-state spectrum that we identify with Mg II 280 nm (EW = 2.0 nm), H-gamma, and H-beta, and its slope is -1.0 in the low state and -1.3 in the high state. If this identification is correct, it would be the weakest radio counterpart of an EGRET blazar, with a 5-GHz flux density of 0.27 Jy. The candidate for 2EG J0852-1237 (located at R.A. = 8h50m09s.6, Decl. = -12o13'34") described by Mattox et al. (1997, Ap.J., May 20 issue) is also highly variable, having brightened from V = 18.9 on 1996 Feb. 16 to V = 16.8 on 1997 Feb. 6. Its redshift is z = 0.566 from the same emission lines as above, plus [O III] 500.7-nm. In the high-state spectrum, Mg II 280-nm has EW = 1.0 nm and the continuum slope is -1.2."