The blazar AO 0235+16 in high optical state
ATel #13925; V. M. Larionov, T. S. Grishina (St. Petersburg University)
on 8 Aug 2020; 14:45 UT
Credential Certification: V. Larionov (vlar@astro.spbu.ru)
Subjects: Optical, Blazar, Quasar
We perform optical photometric and polarimetric monitoring of a sample of gamma-bright blazars using 0.7-m AZT-8 telescope (Crimean Astrophysical Observatory), within the frames of GASP/WEBT project. We report that the blazar AO 0235+16 (z=0.94) reached R=16.55 in the night of 2020 August 07, TJD 59069.53. That is the highest brightness level of AO0235+16 for the last 3 observing seasons, as compared to the quiescence level of 18-19 mag. R band light curve for AO 0235+16 can be seen on our web-page. The polarization degree during last nights varies between 3 and 11%. Current high activity state of this blazar deserves close attention in all wavelengths.
