Optical follow-up observations of blazar 3C 454.3
ATel #3005; E. Semkov, S. Peneva, R. Bachev, A. Strigachev (Institute of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory, Bulgaria)
on 4 Nov 2010; 13:37 UT
Credential Certification: E. Semkov (esemkov@astro.bas.bg)
Subjects: Optical, AGN, Quasar
We performed follow-up optical observations of the flaring flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 454.3 after the reported outburst in the NIR (ATEL #2988), gamma ray (ATEL #2995) and optical (ATEL #3003). The observations were performed with the 50/70 cm Schmidt telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen (Bulgaria) during the nights of 31 Oct. 1, 2 and 3 Nov. We report a 0.6 mag brightness increase (BVRI-band) within one day (from 31 Oct. to 1 Nov.) followed by decrease in brightness over the next two nights (2 and 3 Nov,).
The preliminary photometric magnitudes we obtained are:
JD B V R I
2455501.247 15.41 14.65 14.14 13.41
2455502.225 14.82 14.07 13.53 12.78
2455503.245 14.83 14.08 13.55 12.81
2455504.334 15.18 14.45 13.94 13.22
The observed magnitudes are close to the historical maximum of this object.
We encourage further monitoring of 3C 454.3
