REM observations of the gamma-ray flaring blazar 3C 279
ATel #11190; F. D'Ammando (INAF-IRA Bologna), D. Fugazza (INAF-OA Brera), S. Covino (INAF-OA Brera)
on 17 Jan 2018; 17:25 UT
Credential Certification: Filippo D'Ammando (dammando@ira.inaf.it)
Subjects: Infra-Red, Optical, Gamma Ray, >GeV, AGN, Black Hole, Blazar, Quasar
Following the increase of gamma-ray activity of the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 279 recently observed by Fermi-LAT (ATel #11189), we have activated follow-up observations with the REM telescope (La Silla, Chile).
Observations were carried out with REM on 2018 January 17 between 06:32 UT and 06:50 UT, obtaining three 300 s integration images in the optical g', r', i' bands, and fourteen 15 s integration images in the NIR J, H, and K bands.
We obtained for the target the following optical and NIR magnitudes:
V = 14.39+/-0.05, R = 13.96+/-0.14, I = 13.37+/-0.08
J = 12.10+/-0.02, H = 11.27+/-0.04, K = 10.27+/-0.04
The NIR magnitudes were calibrated against the 2MASS catalog; optical calibration was performed against the APASS catalog.
According to our photometry, 3C 279 shows a brightening of about 1 mag in NIR and 0.6-0.8 mag in optical with respect to the mean values observed by REM during 2005-2012 (see Sandrinelli, et al. 2016, ApJ, 151, 54), in agreement with the increase of gamma-ray activity observed by Fermi-LAT.
REM will continue to monitor 3C 279 in the following weeks.
