Name of the Speaker(s): Kidger, Mark R. & Takalo, L.O.
Institution: I.A.C (Spain), Tuorla Observatory
Title of the communication: The light curves of OJ287 and 3C66a: 1993-1996
Preliminary abstract: We present the results of monitoring of OJ287 and 3c66a at frequencies from 4.5 GHz through to the ultraviolet obtained by the OJ-94 Collaboration. The two blazars have been studied in detail by a collaborative effort involving observers from eleven countries and four continents. A total of more than ten thousand individual integrations have been made at 20 frequencies. The best light curve coverage of both objects is obtained in V and R: in each of these bands we have more than 2000 points for OJ287 and more than 1000 for 3c66a, making these the most complete and detailed light curves ever obtained for any extragalactic object. The OJ287 light curve shows two major outbursts, one in November 1994 and a second in November 1995, both corresponding closely with predictions on the basis of a possible 11.5 year cycle; the radio light curves and x-ray observations, however, show very low fluxes at the same time that the optical, infrared and uv were at their highest level since 1985. The light curve of 3c66a, in contrast, shows a single, unprecedented outburst which appears to have initiated around 1990 and which has provided continuous maxima since intensive monitoring began in Autumn 1993. We provide some initial analysis of both light curves in terms of the binary black hole and relativistic jet models.