Optical Variability of the TeV Blazar 1ES 0806+524 on Diverse Timescales

Abstract

We report the results of our optical (VRI) photometric observations of the TeV blazar 1ES 0806$+$524 on 153 nights during 2011-2019 using seven optical telescopes in Europe and Asia. We investigated the variability of the blazar on intraday as well as on long-term timescales. We examined eighteen intraday light curves for flux and color variations using the most reliable power-enhanced F-test and the nested ANOVA test. Only on one night was a small, but significant, variation found, in both $V$ band and $R$ band light curves. The $V-R$ color index was constant on every one of those nights. Flux density changes of around 80 % were seen over the course of these eight years in multiple bands. We found a weighted mean optical spectral index of 0.639$\pm$0.002 during our monitoring period by fitting a power law ($F_{\nu }\propto {\nu }^{-\alpha }$) in 23 optical ($VRI$) spectral energy distributions of 1ES 0806$+$524. We discuss different possible mechanisms responsible for blazar variability on diverse timescales.

arXiv comment14 pages, 6 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

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