Polarization Monitoring of VHE $\gamma$-ray Blazars

This is a 32-hour polarimetric monitoring of 13 Very High Energy (VHE) $\gamma$-ray emitting blazars. The result will provide simultaneous optical data to directly support the VHE $\gamma$-ray data obtained with our blazar monitoring programs at MAGIC and LST-1. Due to the highly magnetized nature of blazar jets, multiwavelength polarization studies are considered to be effective in trying to answer some of the biggest open questions in AGN physics, namely: Do low and high energy emissions originate from the same region in the jet? What mechanisms/models are responsible for the emissions and particle accelerations? Do blazar subclasses show different polarization behaviors? Our results from this monitoring program in conjunction with VHE $\gamma$-ray and X-ray monitoring data are essential to answer these questions.

Monitoring program

The OB generator will be used to request all ToO observations. Scripts to perform all the requested operations will be automatically created and placed in the directory ~/scripts/67-015/. An email will be sent automatically to the observer, which contains all the information about the requested observations, the names and locations of the scripts, instructions for observing and comments from the creator of the trigger.
To summarise:

Go to the directory
  cd ~/scripts/70-013
List the available scripts
  ls -lrt

and execute the OB generated scripts requested in the trigger email.

Program Tracking
Proposal	70-013
Semester	P70: 20241001 - 20250401
Principal Investigator	Elina Lindfors
Programme	Polarization Monitoring of VHE gamma-ray Blazars
Instrument	ALFOSC
Time Allocation	Multiple (11-26) visits of 13 sources
Total Nights	39h
Type	Mon
Notes	Fixed dates to be scheduled
Total Time Spent	07:08 (hh:mm)

Proposal	Date	Time	Type	Targets	Files	Comments	Status
70-013	2024-10-04	00:42	Mon	H1722+119, 1ES1727+502, BLLac, VER0648+151, S50716+714, 1ES0806+524	ALHj040092 - ALHj040099,ALHj040117 - ALHj040120,ALHj040169 - ALHj040172,ALHj040178 - ALHj040185	Clear skies, good seeing	Observed
70-013	2024-10-12	00:33	Mon	BLLac, VER0648+151, 1ES0806+524, S50716+714	ALHj120002 - ALHj120005, ALHj120024 - ALHj120035	Clear skies and seeing between 1.3''-2.0'' H1722+119 and 1ES1727+502 were missed due to the telescope being closed because of high humidity.	Observed
70-013	2024-10-19	00:43	Mon	BLLac, VER0648+151, 1ES0806+524, S50716+714, 1ES1011+496	ALHj190072 - ALHj190075 ; ALHj190111 - ALHj190122 ; ALHj190127 - ALHj190130	Targets observed through thin clouds and seeing of around 1 arcsec.	Observed
70-013	2024-10-22	00:04	Mon	BL Lac	ALHj220065 - ALHj220068	Observed at a zenith distance of 20 degrees and ~1.0'' seeing. Due to some data-transfer issues with the observing school, there may be extra data in the folder.	Observed
70-013	2024-10-26	00:03	Mon	BLLac	ALHj260158 - ALHj260161	Only one target could be observed due to difficult weather. It was observed in thin clouds with high seeing	Observed
70-013	2024-10-27	00:00	Mon			No observations could be taken due to bad weather.	Failed
70-013	2024-11-03	00:43	Mon	BLLac, VER0648+151, S50716+714, 1ES0806+524, 1ES1011+496	ALHk030079 - ALHk030082, ALHk030112 - ALHk030123, ALHk030127 - ALHk030130	Thin clouds in some of the observations, overall sub-arcsec seeing	Observed
70-013	2024-11-10	00:42	Mon	BLLac, VER0648+151, S50716+714, 1ES0806+524, 1ES1011+496	ALHk100205 - ALHk100208 ; ALHk100234 - ALHk100249	Target BLLac observed with clear skies and seeing of around 1 arcsecond. The rest of the targets were observed with seeing of around 2 arcseconds.	Observed
70-013	2024-11-18	00:00	Mon			No observations could be done due to bad weather	Failed
70-013	2024-11-19	00:00	Mon			Targets could not be observed due to high humidity	Failed
70-013	2024-11-27	00:41	Mon	BLLac, S50716+714, 1ES0806+524, 1ES1011+496, VER0648+151	ALHk270229 - ALHk270232, ALHk270269 - ALHk270284	Observed in thin clouds / dusty skies with high seeing	Observed
70-013	2024-11-28	00:00	Mon	Mkn180, ON246, ON231, ON325, 1ES1218+304	ALHk280135 - ALHk280138, ALHk280156 - ALHk280167	Observed in thin skies with seeing around 1.8" All but 1 target observed successfully, as clouds thickened during the last OB making guiding impossible.	Observed
70-013	2024-12-02	00:39	Mon	BLLac, VER0648+151, 1ES1011+496, 1ES0806+524, S50716+714	ALHl020107 - ALHl020110; ALHl020146 - ALHl020149; ALHl020194 - ALHl020197; ALHl020198 - ALHl020204	All targets were observed according to the requirements.	Observed
70-013	2024-12-03	00:00	Mon			No targets observed due to bad weather conditions at the time of the requested targets.	Failed
70-013	2024-12-14	00:00	Mon	None	None	No targets were observed due to extremely bad weather.	Failed
70-013	2024-12-20	00:30	Mon	1ES1218+304, Mkn180, ON231, ON246	ALHl200126 - ALHl200137, ALHl200150 - ALHl200153	Thin clouds and seeing between 1.3''- 1.5''	Observed
70-013	2024-12-22	00:00	Mon	none	none	No dome opening. Raining and snowing.	Failed
70-013	2024-12-29	00:37	Mon	BLLac, VER0648+151, S50716+714, 1ES0806+524, 1ES1011+496	ALHl290124-127,159-162, 170-182		Observed
70-013	2024-12-30	00:00	Mon	-	-	Due to melting water from the snow freezing over on the road was it not possible to observe any of the targets of this proposal	Failed
70-013	2025-01-11	00:05	Mon	OP313	ALIa110249 - ALIa110252	Subarcsec seeing and clear skies	Observed
70-013	2025-01-12	01:06	Mon	VER0648+151, S50716+714, 1ES0806+524, 1ES1011+496, Mkn180, 1ES1218+304, ON325, ON231, ON246	ALIa120116 - ALIa120127, ALIa120152 - ALIa120155, ALIa120181 - ALIa120188, ALIa120193 - ALIa120200	Very varying seeing, between 1.8 and 0.7 arcsec. Clear skies all night	Observed

Should any of the observations have been carried out using the OB system, you will find additional information HERE