CRTS-II Detection of Increased Optical Activity from CTA 102
ATel #11081; S. G. Djorgovski, A. J. Drake, A. A. Mahabal, M. J. Graham (Caltech); E. Christensen, S. M. Larson (LPL/UA)
on 21 Dec 2017; 18:53 UT
Credential Certification: Andrew J. Drake (ajd@cacr.caltech.edu)
Subjects: Optical, AGN, Blazar
We report the detection of significant optical brightening of FSRQ CTA 102
by CRTS-II on 2017 Dec. 8.15 UT. At that time CTA 102 was seen to have
risen approximately 1.4 mags (to V_CSS = 14.15) compared with previous
observations taken on 2017 Nov. 23 UT. Additional survey observations taken on
2017 Dec. 15 UT show CTA 102 at V_CSS = 14.05. However, we caution that
this CRTS-II photometry is preliminary.
The timing of the optical outburst correlates well with the recent detection of
increased gamma-ray emission noted by Lucarelli et al. (2017, ATel#11045) based
on AGILE data. A similar increase has also been observed in the most recent Fermi LAT
monitored source
lightcurve.
The CRTS-II lightcurve and detection parameters for the brightening of CTA 102
are available
here.
All transients detected by CRTS-II are public available through the
CRTS project page.
