Near-IR Monitoring and Polarimetry of Blazars and Radio Galaxies
We observe at near-IR wavelengths at the 1.8-meter Perkins (J, H, and K) telescope at Lowell observatory. This is in support of our X-ray monitoring program with RXTE. We combine our optical and IR observations with those of other observers around the world to generate the light curves shown on our X-ray page.
Starting in 2005, we are engaged in a program to combine H-band polarization monitoring of a number of blazars with similar monitoring in the optical with our colleagues at St. Petersburg State University in Russia, who observe at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. This is in concert with VLBA imaging at 43 GHz, which provides images in total and polarized intensity. The goal is to use polarization to pinpoint on the VLBA images the location(s) of the IR and optical emission. We hope to see variations in the polarization that will confirm this multiwaveband mapping. Even if the variations are not simultaneous, the time delays will indicate whether the higher-frequency emission occurs upstream or downstream of the bright core that we see on the VLBA images.
The H-band polarimetry will be performed with the new MIMIR near-IR wide-field imager, spectrometer, and polarimeter, constructed by Professor Dan Clemens of Boston University.