ASAS-SN Light Curve Reveals Dramatic Variability of Seyfert 1.5 AGN in NGC 1566
ATel #11893; X. Dai (OU), K. Z. Stanek, C. S. Kochanek (OSU), B. J. Shappee (IfA-Hawaii), and ASAS-SN Collaboration
on 27 Jul 2018; 14:36 UT
Credential Certification: Krzysztof Stanek (stanek.32@osu.edu)
Multi-year ASAS-SN V-band light curve shows that the nucleus
of NGC
1566 started to brighten significantly around September 2017, and
it is currently the brightest it has ever been in our data. The light
curve shown was obtained using ASAS-SN Sky Patrol (Kochanek et
al. 2017, PASP, 129, 4502), which employs fixed aperture photometry,
and therefore contains significant light contamination from the host
galaxy. The "bump" visible in 2014 is due to Type II supernova
ASASSN-14ha in that galaxy, further underscoring the dramatic nature
of the present brightening episode.
The AGN inside NGC 1566 has been reported to have enhanced activity based
on Integral and Swift observations from June 2018 (ATel #11786,
#11783, #11754.)
Multi-wavelength follow-up observations are encouraged.
We thank Las Cumbres Observatory and its staff for their continued
support of ASAS-SN. ASAS-SN is funded in part by the Gordon and Betty
Moore Foundation through grant GBMF5490 to the Ohio State University,
NSF grant AST-1515927, the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation, the
Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP) at OSU, the
Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy
(CASSACA), and the Villum Fonden (Denmark).
