Evidence for the long-term optical curve variability and colour behaviour of the BL Lac object Mkn 421 is presented. Our results show that the amplitude of the optical variations of Mkn 421 is only about △B=4.7 magni...Evidence for the long-term optical curve variability and colour behaviour of the BL Lac object Mkn 421 is presented. Our results show that the amplitude of the optical variations of Mkn 421 is only about △B=4.7 magnitude in the B-band for its photometric history from 1899 to 2002. The results of optical photometric monitoring of the Mkn 421 from April 2000 to Jan 2002 are provided. During our observation, Mkn 421 shows significant rapid variations and exhibits short time variability of 2.42 hours in the B band. A strong correlation between the B - V colour index and the magnitude in the B band is found. Our charge coupled device （CCD） photometry of Mkn 421 shows that the measured results are in good agreement with the predicted optical variability period of about 23 years.展开更多
基金Project supported by an CRCG grant of the University of Hong Kong, Yunnan Provincial Foundation of Science of China （Grant No 2004A0027M） and the National Natural Science Foundation of China（Grant No 10363002）, and the Natural Science Foundation of China Education Department（Grant No 02142）.
文摘Evidence for the long-term optical curve variability and colour behaviour of the BL Lac object Mkn 421 is presented. Our results show that the amplitude of the optical variations of Mkn 421 is only about △B=4.7 magnitude in the B-band for its photometric history from 1899 to 2002. The results of optical photometric monitoring of the Mkn 421 from April 2000 to Jan 2002 are provided. During our observation, Mkn 421 shows significant rapid variations and exhibits short time variability of 2.42 hours in the B band. A strong correlation between the B - V colour index and the magnitude in the B band is found. Our charge coupled device （CCD） photometry of Mkn 421 shows that the measured results are in good agreement with the predicted optical variability period of about 23 years.
