The Thirteen-Year History of Blazar 3C 279 and an Analysis of the 2001 Outburst

Jeyhan Kartaltepe

Advisor: Dr. Thomas Balonek

Throughout 2001 the optically violent variable (OVV) blazar 3C 279 underwent the most intense outburst seen during the entire thirteen year history that this quasar has been studied at Colgate University. This study looks at all 4350 images in the Colgate database, but concentrates on the over one thousand R band images taken during 2001. This data set includes about twenty nights of well-sampled microvariability coverage. The outburst began in March, after 3C 279 had faded to its faintest level, R = 15.5, in four years. The source was still active in early August, at its brightest level, R = 12.5, in the thirteen years of our study, at which time it became unobservable due to its proximity to the Sun. Since becoming observable again in mid-November, 3C 279 has fluctuated between R=14.0 and R=14.5. The source exhibited numerous week-long flares of approximately one magnitude during the six-month outburst period. Superposed on these flares were night-to-night variations of up to one half magnitude and intra-night microvariability of 0.2 magnitude in five hours. We compare the optical light curve to an x-ray light curve for this same time period to look for possible correlations. By looking at the long-term trends of 3C 279 and then concentrating on the recent outburst first by itself and then in comparison with x-ray data from the same time, as well as an analysis of the microvariability data, we hope to be able to begin placing constraints on current models for blazar emission.