AAVSO Special Notice #62: Update on Blazar Monitoring Campaign

Update on Blazar Monitoring Campaign (AN #353)

The campaign to monitor blazars as described in Alert Notice 353
continues, and observations of any and all of the ten targets
are welcomed.  The VERITAS telescope is currently in standby
while the Arizona monsoon season progresses, but the rainy
season typically ends in late August or early September.  Please
observe these objects now to familiarize yourself with the
fields and to establish a recent baseline of behavior for
future analysis.

A flare in 3C 66A was detected by a single AAVSO observer
(Robert James, Las Cruces, NM, USA) on August 16-18 UT.
This observation was independently confirmed by professional 
follow-ups.  VERITAS observations were not obtained due to 
weather conditions, but this event is a good example of the
type of behavior to expect from the blazars under observation.
As with many campaigns, both initial *and* confirming observations
by multiple observers are still needed to trigger the observations,
and we urge as many observers as possible to participate in this
campaign.

If you are observing with a CCD and have V or Rc filters, please
use filters when imaging.  Unfiltered CCD and visual observers
please observe as you normally would.  Time series observations
are not required; all that is needed to trigger VERITAS and
XMM-Newton are confirmed detections of any of these objects at
or above the given thresholds.

The following is the list of target names, designations, and
thresholds for this campaign:

Simbad name	AAVSO name	Desig	R(trig.)	V(trig.)
----------------------------------------------------------------
1ES0033+595	1ES0033+59	0030+59	14.5 Rc	 	14.9 V
1ES0806+524	1ES0806+52	0802+52	14.5 Rc  	14.9 V
Mrk 1218	MRK 1218	0832+25	12.5 Rc  	12.9 V
1ES1627+402	1ES1627+40	1625+40	16.5 Rc  	16.9 V
3C 66A   	3C 66A	   	0216+42	13.7 Rc  	14.1 V
BL Lac   	BL LAC	 	2158+41	12.8 Rc 	13.2 V
W Com    	W COM    	1216+28	13.7 Rc 	14.1 V
1ES0120+340	1ES0120+34	0117+33	14.4 Rc 	14.8 V
1ES0647+250	1ES0647+25	0644+25	14.0 Rc 	14.4 V
1H 0323+342	1H0323+342	0318+33	15.0 Rc 	15.4 V

More complete details on the campaign and its requirements
are available in AN #353, at the following URL:

http://www.aavso.org/publications/alerts/alert353.shtml

This Special Notice was prepared by Matthew Templeton.

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