Quasars' Monitoring Campaign

We are monitoring 56 very luminous Quasars using broad band imaging at the CTIO 0.9m Telescope to extend studies based on reverberation mapping of low and intermediate luminosity AGNs by two orders of magnitude, probing the BLR size (and BH-mass) of these luminous AGNs at redshift ~ 2 - 3. Significant variations will trigger "target of opportunity" spectroscopy with the Du Pont Telescope at LCO and, eventually, real reverberation mapping. This long-term proyect will enable the measurement of the largest BHs and will thus extend our understanding of the physics of AGN and their host into an epoch crucial for the undertanding of galaxy evolution.

.: QSO Final List :. (access with password)

.: QSOs coordinates file for Aladin, StarAlt & DSS :. (access with password)

Public Chart Complete Finding Chart with Coordinates
and Redshifts (access with password)

The imaging monitoring have been performed by the 0.9m Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). Images are taken in the R-filter with an exposure time of 250 sec.. In order to look at the continuum light curves of the quasars and it's field stars, please, select a quasar in the box below and then push the "Display" button. Quasar's variability are listed below from the most variable to the less.

>.: Light Curves postscript format :.

>.: Continuum Variability Ranking :.
>.: If it doesn't look nice in your browser try downloading the PDF ranking file.

Here you can find the Differential Light Curves (DLC) for all the quasars in our monitoring program in GIF format.

Up to date, 11 targets have been selected for the spectroscopic follow up (look them up in the variability ranking) and the spectroscopic monitoring has already began for 8 of them. Come back soon for news!