The OJ287 blazar in a flaring state
ATel #9489; S. Zola (Jagiellonian University), M. Drozdz, M. Ogloza, G. Stachowski (Mt. Suhora Observatory)
on 13 Sep 2016; 08:05 UT
Credential Certification: Staszek Zola (szola@oa.uj.edu.pl)
Subjects: Optical, AGN, Blazar
Referred to by ATel #: 9709
Optical observations of the blazar OJ287 restarted after a break over the summer due to its
conjunction with the Sun have revealed the blazar to be very bright in the optical band. Since
the first measurement taken on August 28th at Mt. Suhora Observatory, OJ287 has continued to
brighten from 13.6 to 13.1 mag (in the R filter), recorded on the night of Sep 11/12.
The blazar OJ287 stays very active after the strong December 2015 outburst. The current
brightening could be a manifestation of jet activity, but polarimetric and multiwavelength data
are needed to help reveal its nature.
A plot showing recent measurements can be found at: http://www.as.up.krakow.pl/sz/oj287.html
