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We present ground-based optical photometric monitoring data for NGC 5548, part of an extended multi-wavelength reverberation mapping campaign. The light curves have nearly daily cadence from 2014 January to July in nine filters (\emph{BVRI} and \emph{ugriz}). Combined with ultraviolet data from the \emph{Hubble Space Telescope} and \emph{Swift}, we confirm significant time delays between the continuum bands as a function of wavelength, extending the wavelength coverage from 1158\,\AA\ to the $z$ band ($\sim\!9160$\,\AA). We find that the lags at wavelengths longer than the {\it V} band are equal to or greater than the lags of high-ionization-state emission lines (such as He\,{\sc ii}\,$\lambda 1640$ and $\lambda 4686$), suggesting that the continuum-emitting source is of a physical size comparable to the inner broad-line region (BLR). The trend of lag with wavelength is broadly consistent with the prediction for continuum reprocessing by an accretion disk with $\tau \propto \lambda^{4/3}$. However, the lags also imply a disk radius that is 3 times larger than the prediction from standard thin-disk theory, assuming that the bolometric luminosity is 10\% of the Eddington luminosity ($L = 0.1L_{\rm Edd}$). Using optical spectra from the Large Binocular Telescope, we estimate the bias of the interband continuum lags due to BLR emission observed in the filters. We find that the bias for filters with high levels of BLR contamination ($\sim\! 20\%$) can be important for the shortest continuum lags, and likely has a significant impact on the {\it u} and {\it U} bands owing to Balmer continuum emission., Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, accepted to ApJ. For a brief video describing the main results of this paper, please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaYtcDvIoP0&feature=youtu.be

The BL Lacertae object OJ 287 was intensively monitored with the IUE satellite from 1993 March 15 to 20 in the 2000-3000 A wavelength region. The very low emission state of the source hampered the detection during part of the 23 performed exposures. The light curve at 2650 A constructed with the 11 best images exhibits a variable trend with a factor is less than or approximately 2 enhancement of the flux in about 3 hours. Simultaneous ground based observations show an optical flux variability of smaller amplitude, but correlated with the UV light curve without any apparent lag. The radio light curve is nearly constant. The UV emission state is the weakest observed in 15 years for this flaring blazard, being a factor of less than orapproximately 20 lower than the maximum recorded one.

Since September 2005, the Whipple 10m Gamma-ray Telescope has been operated primarily as a blazar monitor. The five Northern Hemisphere blazars that have already been detected at the Whipple Observatory, Markarian 421, H1426+428, Markarian 501, 1ES 1959+650 and 1ES 2344+514, are monitored routinely each night that they are visible. We report on the Markarian 421 observations taken from November 2005 to June 2006 in the gamma-ray, X-ray, optical and radio bands. During this time, Markarian 421 was found to be variable at all wavelengths probed. Both the variability and the correlations among different energy regimes are studied in detail here. A tentative correlation, with large spread, was measured between the X-ray and gamma-ray bands, while no clear correlation was evident among the other energy bands. In addition to this, the well-sampled spectral energy distribution of Markarian 421 (1101+384) is presented for three different activity levels. The observations of the other blazar targets will be reported separately., Comment: 58 pages, 22 Figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

The optical variability of the BL Lacertae object, Markarian 501, has been monitored from 1976–1987. Long-term optical variations have been detected with an amplitude of 0.65 mag. The long-term small amplitude, color variations which have been observed are found to be weakly correlated with the long-term trends in brightness in the sense that the object appears bluer when it is brighter. No evidence has been found for variability on a time scale of days or less for this object.

Aims. A huge multiwavelength campaign targeting the blazar AO 0235+164 was organized by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) in 2003-2005 to study the variability properties of the source. Methods. Monitoring observations were carried out at cm and mm wavelengths, and in the near-IR and optical bands, while three pointings by the XMM-Newton satellite provided information on the X-ray and UV emission. Results. We present the data acquired during the second observing season, 2004-2005, by 27 radio-to-optical telescopes. The ∼2600 data points collected allow us to trace the low-energy behaviour of the source in detail, revealing an increased near-IR and optical activity with respect to the previous season. Increased variability is also found at the higher radio frequencies, down to ∼15 GHz, but not at the lower ones. While the X-ray (and optical) light curves obtained during the XMM-Newton pointings reveal no significant short-term variability, the simultaneous intraday radio observations with the 100 m telescope at Effelsberg show flux-density changes at 10.5 GHz, which are more likely due to a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic processes. Conclusions. The radio (and optical) outburst predicted to peak around February-March 2004 on the basis of the previously observed 5-6 yr quasi-periodicity did not occur. The analysis of the optical light curves reveals now a longer characteristic time scale of variability of ∼8 yr, which is also present in the radio data. The spectral energy distributions corresponding to the XMM-Newton observations performed during the WEBT campaign are compared with those pertaining to previous pointings of X-ray satellites. Bright, soft X-ray spectra can be described in terms of an extra component, which appears also when the source is faint through a hard UV spectrum and a curvature of the X-ray spectrum. Finally, there might be a correlation between the X-ray and optical bright states with a long time delay of about 5 yr, which would require a geometrical interpretation., La lista completa de autores que integran el documento puede consultarse en el archivo., Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas

Some intra-day variable, compact extra-galactic radio sources show brightness temperatures severely exceeding 10^{12} K, the limit set by catastrophic inverse-Compton (IC) cooling in sources of incoherent synchrotron radiation. The violation of the IC limit, possible under non-stationary conditions, would lead to IC avalanches in the soft-gamma-ray energy band during transient periods. For the first time, broadband signatures of possible IC catastrophes were searched for in S5 0716+71. A multifrequency observing campaign targetting S5 0716+71 was carried out in November 2003 under the framework of the European Network for the Investigation of Galactic nuclei through Multifrequency Analysis (ENIGMA) together with a campaign by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT), involving a pointing by the soft-gamma-ray satellite INTEGRAL, optical, near-infrared, sub-millimeter, millimeter, radio, and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) monitoring. S5 0716+71 was very bright at radio frequencies and in a rather faint optical state during the INTEGRAL pointing; significant inter-day and low intra-day variability was recorded in the radio regime, while typical fast variability features were observed in the optical band. No correlation was found between the radio and optical emission. The source was not detected by INTEGRAL, neither by the X-ray monitor JEM-X nor by the gamma-ray imager ISGRI, but upper limits to the source emission in the 3-200 keV energy band were estimated. A brightness temperature Tb>2.1x10^{14} K was inferred from the radio variability, but no corresponding signatures of IC avalanches were recorded at higher energies. The absence of IC-catastrophe signatures provides either a lower limit delta>8 to the Doppler factor affecting the radio emission or strong constraints for modelling of the Compton catastrophes in S5 0716+71., 15 pages, 3 EPS figures, 3 tables, to appear in A&A

A multiwavelength campaign to observe the BL Lac object AO 0235+16 (z = 0.94) was set up by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) collaboration during the observing seasons 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, involving radio, near-IR and optical photometric monitoring, VLBA monitoring, optical spectral monitoring, and three pointings by the XMM-Newton satellite. Here we report on the results of the first season, which involved the participation of 24 optical and near-IR telescopes and 4 radio telescopes, as well as the first XMM-Newton pointing, which occurred on January 18-19, 2004. Unpublished data from previous epochs were also collected (from 5 optical-NIR and 3 radio telescopes), in order to fill the gap between the end of the period presented in Raiteri et al. (2001) and the start of the WEBT campaign. The contribution of the southern AGN, 2 arcsec distant from the source, is taken into account. It is found to especially affect the blue part of the optical spectrum when the source is faint. In the optical and near-IR the source has been very active in the last 3 years, although it has been rather faint most of the time, with noticeable variations of more than a magnitude over a few days. In contrast, in the radio bands it appears to have been "quiescent" since early 2000. The major radio (and optical) outburst predicted to peak around February-March 2004 (with a six month uncertainty) has not occurred yet. When comparing our results with the historical light curves, two different behaviours seem to characterize the optical outbursts: only the major events present a radio counterpart. The X-ray spectra obtained by the three EPIC detectors are well fitted by a power law with extra-absorption at z = 0.524; the energy index in the 0.2-10 keV range is well constrained: α = 0.645 ± 0.028 and the 1 keV flux density is 0.311 ± 0.008 μJy. The analysis of the X-ray light curves reveals that no significant variations occurred during the pointing. In contrast, simultaneous dense radio monitoring with the 100 m telescope at Effelsberg shows a ∼2-3% flux decrease in 6-7 h, which, if intrinsic, would imply a brightness temperature well above the Compton limit and hence a lower limit to the Doppler factor δ ≳ 46. We construct the broad-band spectral energy distribution of January 18-19, 2004 with simultaneous radio data from Effelsberg, optical data from the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), optical-UV data from the Optical Monitor onboard XMM-Newton, and X-ray data by the EPIC instruments. Particular care is taken to correct data for extinction due to both the Milky Way and the z = 0.524 absorber. The resulting SED suggests the existence of a bump in the UV spectral region., La lista completa de autores que integran el documento puede consultarse en el archivo., Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía

BL Lacertae has been the target of four observing campaigns by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) collaboration. In this paper we present UBVRI light curves obtained by theWEBT from 1994 to 2002, including the last, extended BL Lac 2001 campaign. A total of about 7500 optical observations performed by 31 telescopes from Japan to Mexico have been collected, to be added to the ∼15 600 observations of the BL Lac Campaign 2000. All these data allow one to follow the source optical emission behaviour with unprecedented detail. The analysis of the colour indices reveals that the flux variability can be interpreted in terms of two components: longer-term variations occurring on a fewday time scale appear as mildly-chromatic events, while a strong bluer-when-brighter chromatism characterizes very fast (intraday) flares. By decoupling the two components, we quantify the degree of chromatism inferring that longer-term flux changes imply moving along a ∼0.1 bluerwhen- brighter slope in the B − R versus R plane; a steeper slope of ∼0.4 would distinguish the shorter-term variations. This means that, when considering the long-term trend, the B-band flux level is related to the R-band one according to a power law of index ∼1.1. Doppler factor variations on a “convex” spectrum could be the mechanism accounting for both the long-term variations and their slight chromatism. Reig Torres, Pablo, Pablo.Reig@uv.es

Of the blazars detected by EGRET in GeV gamma rays, 3C 279 is not only the best-observed by EGRET, but also one of the best-monitored at lower frequencies. We have assembled eleven spectra, from GHz radio through GeV gamma rays, from the time intervals of EGRET observations. Although some of the data have appeared in previous publications, most are new, including data taken during the high states in early 1999 and early 2000. All of the spectra show substantial gamma-ray contribution to the total luminosity of the object; in a high state, the gamma-ray luminosity dominates over that at all other frequencies by a factor of more than 10. There is no clear pattern of time correlation; different bands do not always rise and fall together, even in the optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray bands. The spectra are modeled using a leptonic jet, with combined synchrotron self-Compton + external Compton gamma-ray production. Spectral variability of 3C 279 is consistent with variations of the bulk Lorentz factor of the jet, accompanied by changes in the spectral shape of the electron distribution. Our modeling results are consistent with the UV spectrum of 3C 279 being dominated by accretion disk radiation during times of low gamma-ray intensity., Comment: 39 pages including 13 figures; data tables not included (see ApJ web version or contact author)

We report on the possible detection of UV microvariability in the continuum of the seyfert galaxy Fairall 9, as well as a positive detection of microvariability in the MG II line based on data obtained with the International Ultraviolet Explorer Satellite. In addition, we report a detection of optical microvariability in AKN 120. We argue, based on the results from the NGC 5548 monitoring campaign, which showed the optical and UV continuum variability highly correlated, with nearly 0 lag, that this is evidence that this source also displays UV continuum microvariability.

We present results of monitoring a sample of five OVV quasars in an effort to determine if these types of AGNs exhibit microvariability similar to that detected for BL Lacertae objects. Three of the five quasars investigated clearly exhibited microvariability. The timescales for the variations for both BL Lacertae objects and OVV quasars are similar which suggests that the radiation is generated in similar spatial volumes. These variations are consistent with the results of models which explain the observed microvariability as the result of excess emission produced by flares or hot spots randomly appearing and disappearing on the accretion disks around supermassive black holes.

We present ground-based observations of the BL Lac object PKS 2155-304 during 1991 November. These data were obtained as part of a large international campaign of observations spanning the electro-magnetic spectrum from the radio waves to the X-rays. The data presented here include radio and UBVRI fluxes, as well as optical polarimetry. The U to I data show the same behavior in all bands and that only upper limits to any lag can be deduced from the cross-correlation of the light curves. The spectral slope in the U-I domain remained constant on all epochs but 2. There is no correlation between changes in the spectral slope and large variations in the total or polarized flux. The radio flux variations did not follow the same pattern of variability as the optical and infrared fluxes. The polarized flux varied by a larger factor than the total flux. The variations of the polarized flux are poorly correlated with those of the total flux in the optical (and hence UV domain; see the accompanying paper by Edelson et al.) nor with those of the soft X-rays. We conclude that the variability of PKS 2155-304 in the optical and near-infrared spectral domains are easier to understand in the context of variable geometry or bulk Lorentz factor than of variable electron acceleration and cooling rates.

We present ground-based data of the BL Lac object PKS 2155-305 obtained during a large international campaign spanning the electro–magnetic spectrum from the radio waves to X-rays in November 1991. For the complete description of the observations and data analysis we refer to the paper by Courvoisier et al. 1993, and references therein. The ground-based data include radio, infrared JHKL and UBVRI fluxes as well as optical and near IR polarimetry.The broad-band optical and near IR data from U to I exhibit the same behaviour in all bands: the flux nearly doubled over the well-covered period of 23 days. The cross-correlation function does not reveal any significant changes in the light-curves. Though significant variations in 24 hours have been recorded, the cumulated Fourier power spectrum drops to the noise level for periods shorter than 2.5 days. The spectral index remained constant.The polarised flux varied by a larger factor than the total flux and did not follow the same pattern. The degree of polarisation and polarisation angle are nearly independent of the wavelength and are strongly correlated in all filters.In the radio domain the spectral index increased from −0.1 on November 5 to +0.02 on 25-th.The absence of the lag between the optical and infrared bands and the polarisation variations are consistent with a model in which the variability is caused by micro-lensing of the source (Stickel, Fried and Kühr 1988). One would, however, expect in this model that the variation in the polarisation and the total flux are tightly correlated contrary to what is observed.The constant shape of the continuum spectral energy suggests that only the number of electrons whose emission is beamed towards the observer changes, rather than the arrival of fresh electrons that are being accelerated.The variability of the polarisation may be explained by changes in the geometry of the magnetic field (dominant direction). This is consistent with the observed variations of the polarisation angle.

A large, international program of ground-based optical spectroscopy and photometry of the variable Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 undertaken in support of an IUE monitoring campaign is described. This contribution presents the data base and describes the methods used to correct for systematic differences between spectra from different sources. Optical continuum and H-beta emission-line light curves are derived from the spectra. The behavior of the optical continuum is qualitatively the same as the behavior of the ultraviolet continuum. Cross-correlation of the ultraviolet and optical continuum measurements does not reveal any significant lag between them. The h-beta emission-line variations show the same basic pattern as seen in the continuum and ultraviolet emission lines, with H-beta lagging behind the continuum by about 20 days. This is significantly larger than the about 10 day lag deduced for Ly-alpha.

Large-amplitude, rapid optical variability is a well-known identifying characteristic for BL Lacertae objects ('blazars'). Although large-amplitude variations on timescales ranging from days to decades have been well documented1, considerable controversy surrounds the nature of microvariability, that is, optical variations on timescales significantly shorter than a day. Here we report observations of BL Lacertae in which rapid changes were detected in the total optical flux from this object. These variations occurred on timescales as short as 1.5 hours. Although their structure is complex, the minimum timescale for the variations may be used to place constraints on the size of the emitting region. Assuming that these variations are produced in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole, the timescales imply a black-hole mass of 1.42×109 M⊙. Relativistic beaming need not be invoked to account for the present luminosity of this object.