Long-time-scale optical variability in quasars

Details Long-time-scale optical variability in quasars Long-time-scale optical variability in quasars

Dec 1976

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1976pasp...88..844h&link_type=abstract

Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Publications, vol. 88, Dec. 1976-Jan. 1977, p. 844-848. NSF-supported research.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

11

Light Curve, Quasars, Radio Spectra, Ubv Spectra, Long Term Effects, Optical Emission Spectroscopy, Photopeak

Scientific paper

Some 82 quasar light curves produced from photographic plates are examined for large-amplitude peak-to-peak optical variability over time scales of tens of years. Attempts are made to establish correlations between such optical variability and radio variability, radio spectral types, radio luminosity normalized with respect to optical luminosity, and optical color indices. The results show that: (1) long-term large-amplitude optical variability is rather common; (2) the amount of optical and radio variability is weakly correlated at best; (3) quasars with flat concave radio spectra may be the most optically variable subclass; (4) quasars with such radio spectra appear to be redder in both (U-B) and (B-V) as a function of redshift than quasars as a whole; (5) there is no functional relation between radio spectral index and optical variability for quasars analogous to that for BL Lac-type objects; (6) there is a general relationship between peak-to-peak optical variability and radio/optical luminosity ratio for all quasars with a compact radio source but not for those with extended sources; and (7) the puzzling nature of Hubble diagrams for flat-spectrum quasars may be partially due to the long-term large-amplitude optical variability present in many of these objects.

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