Bibcode
DOI
Sillanpaa, A.; Takalo, L. O.; Kikuchi, S.; Kidger, M.; de Diego, J. A.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomical Journal (ISSN 0004-6256), vol. 101, June 1991, p. 2017-2025. Research supported by Jenny and Antti Wilhuri Foundation and Academy of Finland.
Advertised on:
6
1991
Citations
17
Refereed citations
16
Description
Simultaneous UBVRI photopolarimetric observations of the highly variable
BL Lac object OJ 287 have been obtained on six nights. The polarization
and position angle, as well as their wavelength dependence, have been
found to be variable from night to night and also on a timescale of a
few hours. During the first three consecutive nights, a clear
anticorrelation existed between the flux density and the degree of
polarization such that when the object brightened the polarization
decreased. During the same nights, a possible rotation in the p(x)p(y)
plane was noted. These observations are not easily explained by a single
component synchrotron model; a better explanation would be a
relativistic jet pointing toward earth, with shocked, highly polarized
clumps rotating inside it.