SMARTS Optical/Near-infrared observations of PKS 1824-582I

ATel #6111; Jedidah Isler (Syracuse Univ./Yale Univ.), Emily MacPherson, Imran Hasan, Michelle Buxton, Meg Urry (Yale University)
on 2 May 2014; 18:29 UT
Credential Certification: Michelle Buxton (michelle.buxton@yale.edu)

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We recently observed PKS 1824-582 with the SMARTS 1.3m+ANDICAM instrument in Cerro Tololo, Chile. The ANDICAM instrument is capable of observing optical and infrared bands simultaneously using a dual-channel imager with a dichroic that feeds an optical CCD and infrared imager. These observations were scheduled in response to ATel 6067, which reported significant gamma-ray emission from this source on 13 April 2014. Successful data points were obtained close to nightly through 23 April 2014 with an additional visit the following week (JD 2456763-2456776). We report the following optical/infrared (OIR) magnitudes, based on calibration star data found in the USNO-B1.0 (opt) and 2MASS (ir) catalogs. Optical errors are dominated by systematic errors of 0.1 mag as the calibration of our comparison stars are based on magnitudes taken from the USNO B1.0 catalogue. Random errors are conservatively estimated to be 0.03 mag in the optical and 0.05 mag in the IR.

JD B mag R mag J mag

2456763.89714 19.340 17.917 16.410

2456765.80811 18.960 17.676 16.091

2456766.86646 19.151 ... 16.227

2456767.87297 19.009 ... 15.987

2456768.84559 19.086 17.761 16.305

2456769.88608 19.185 17.785 16.044

2456770.70911 18.896 17.483 15.834

2456776.79009 19.186 17.899 ...

OIR magnitudes varied by delta_B = 0.444, delta_R = 0.434, delta_J = 0.576 mag over the thirteen day observation period. OIR emission was relatively faint as compared to other flaring, Fermi gamma-ray blazars that have been previously reported by SMARTS (e.g. ATel 5416, 5418). Due to the current faintness of PKS 1824-582, we have reduced our observations to once every 10-30 days. Plots and data tables of this and other blazars we monitor can be found at www.astro.yale.edu/smarts/glast/home.php.