Testing the binary black hole model: detecting expected Halpha flare

68-018 Pursimo

Summary:

BL Lac object OJ287 ($z$=0.306) shows cyclical behaviour of 12 years and 55 years. However, it has been demonstrated that the system is not strictly periodic. This system is a binary black hole where the shorter cycle arises from the orbital period, and the longer one from the precession cycle of the major axis of the orbit. The flares arise from a process which starts from the collision of the secondary black hole on the accretion disk of the primary. A cloud of hot plasma cloud is set loose from the disk and after some delay appears as a large optical flare. Later we expect to see a strong Hydrogen-line flare when the cloud has expanded more. From the previous studies it is known that the $H_{\alpha}$-emission line varies by a factor of ten in twenty years and the sparse data is consistent with the model. We wish to monitor the $H_{\alpha}$-emission line of OJ287 to see if the line bursts are following continuum bursts, as the binary black hole model predicts.

Calibrations

Internal flats, arcs and bias frames from alfosc-calibs

Observations

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