A strong optical flaring from the Seyfert 1 Galaxy OQ 334 (B2 1420+326)
ATel #16681; M. Brown, K. Schoch, O. Koppitz, D. Paulini, J. Muenz, F. Lach, E. Bommert, N. Bader, N. Boutter, N. Eckl, F. Kaplan, A. Scherbantin, J. Seufert, N. Zottmann, R. Steineke, M. Feige, D. Reinhart, C. Lorey (all Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte â Friedrich-Koenig-Gymnasium, Wuerzburg, Germany) K. Mannheim (University of Wurzburg, Germany) D. Elsaesser (TU Dortmund, Germany)
on 30 Jun 2024; 16:13 UT
Credential Certification: Dominik Elsaesser (dominik.elsaesser@tu-dortmund.de)
Subjects: Optical, AGN, Blazar, Quasar
The flat spectrum radio quasar OQ 334, also known as QSO B2 1420+326; ICRS coord. (ep=J2000): RA 14 22 30.38; Dec +32 23 10.44 (Optical); z=0.68144 (Data from SIMBAD (http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/) has been exceptionally bright in the R band in recent nights.
This object repeatedly attracts attention with spectacular flares:
In December 2017 in the optical by a factor of 10 (ATel #11110), in late 2018 / early 2019 in the optical, NIR and in the gamma range (ATel #12201, ATel #12277, ATel #12379).
In June and July 2019, the AGN was again very active, which was first reported by Marchini et al. in the optical with R = 15.30 (ATel #12886) and subsequently in many other wavelengths (ATel #12887, ATel #12914, ATel #12941, ATel #12942). An extreme brightness was then also measured in the optical with a brightness value in the R-band of 13.70 mag (ATel #12914).
At the beginning of 2020, the AGN again showed a strong flare, which was observed and documented in numerous wavelength ranges: ATel #13417, ATel #13421, ATel #13428, ATel #13479, ATel #13582.
At the end of July 2021, another flare was observed from the object in the radio range (ATel #14822), and in April and May 2023 there was flaring activity the optical and NIR range (ATel #15986, ATel #16021, ATel #16040).
Between these flares, the object usually reaches average magnitudes in the R-band of about 19 mag (see SIMBAD).
In the past twelve months we have measured OQ 334 in the R-band with a brightness in the range between 18 and 16,5 mag. Since the beginning of this year, we have measured an irregular increase in brightness in the R-band from about 18 mag to 16.531 mag on May 13 of this year (JD 2460444.4555).
Now, end of June 2024, the following - preliminary - brightness values of OQ 334 were measured in the R-band at the Hans Haffner Observatory in Hettstadt:
JD 2460486.5107 14.519 ± 0.010
JD 2460486.5492 14.563 ± 0.013
JD 2460487.4049 14.784 ± 0.005
JD 2460487.5400 14.699 ± 0.012
JD 2460490.3976 14.555 ± 0.005
JD 2460490.5243 14.346 ± 0.010
Comparison stars in the field of view were taken from the APASS DR9 catalogue (Henden et al., 2016). The Sloan magnitudes were transformed to the Johnson-Cousins system with the equations by Lupton (2005).
These measurements are carried out as part of the long-term AGN monitoring program of the Naturwissenschaftliches Labor fuer Schueler am Friedrich-Koenig-Gymnasium (FKG), the Universitaet Wuerzburg, and TU Dortmund University. The optical data were acquired through a Bessel R filter (Chroma) with the 0.5m CDK-astrograph (PlaneWave) and a Moravian G4-16000 camera at the school and university observatory Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte in D-97265 Hettstadt, Germany (https://schuelerlabor-wuerzburg.de/en/observatory/).
Hans-Haffner-Sternwarte Hettstadt