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Further confirmation of a very high optical state of S5 0716+714

ATel #6944; R. Bachev, B. Spassov, S. Boeva (IA-NAO, BAS, Bulgaria)
on 18 Jan 2015; 02:09 UT
Credential Certification: Rumen Bachev (bachevr@astro.bas.bg)

Subjects: Optical, Blazar

Referred to by ATel #: 6953, 6957, 6962, 6999, 7026, 7268, 8942

This blazar (S5 0716+714) has been reported to be in an exceptionally bright state in the optical (ATel#6902, ATel#6942). Following these reports, we performed photometric monitoring of this object with the 60cm telescope of Belogradchik observatory, Bulgaria. The blazar is indeed in an unprecedented (according to the best of our knowledge) high state. Its preliminary R-band magnitudes are:

16.01.15 UT 01.55 R=12.04
17.01.15 UT 00:13 R=11.93
17.01.15 UT 23:05 R=11.86

Typical measurement and calibration errors are in the order of 0.03 mag. During the night of 17.01.15 the blazar showed strong intranight variability of about 0.1 mag/hour during several hours. It reached a maximum (~ UT 23) and later showed some signs of declining. Further monitoring is encouraged.