Whole Earth Blazar Telescope
The Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) is an international consortium of astronomers created in 1997, with the aim to study a particular category of
This collaboration involves many telescopes observing at optical, near-infrared, and radio (millimetric and centimetric)
WEBT observations are often carried out in conjunction with observations at higher
The multi-wavelength studies performed by the WEBT have the purpose of understanding the physical mechanisms that rule the variable emission of these celestial objects. This emission mainly comes from a plasma jet pointing closely to the line of sight, and originating from a supermassive black hole located in the core of the host galaxy.
Foundation
The WEBT was founded in autumn 1997 by John Mattox, from the Institute of Astrophysical Research at the Boston University, as a collaboration among optical observers.
Three years after, in 2000, the leadership was committed to Massimo Villata, from the Observatory of Turin. A constitution was issued, defining purposes and management of the organization. Soon after, also
Observing campaigns
Until February 2009, the WEBT has organised 24 observing campaigns, with the participation of more than one hundred telescopes. Each campaign is devoted to a specific source, and is led by a Campaign Manager appointed by the President. The Campaign Manager is responsible for the observing strategy, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and finally takes care of the publication of the results.
This is the list of the blazars that have been targets of WEBT campaigns:
- AO 0235+16 [1][2][3][4]
- Markarian 421[5]
- S5 0716+71 [6][7][8]
- BL Lacertae[9][10][11]
- Markarian 501
- 3C 66A[12][13]
- OJ 287[14]
- 3C 454.3[15][16][17]
- 3C 279[18][19]
Papers
After eighteen years of operations, more than 160
The GASP
On September 4, 2007, the WEBT started a new project: the GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP). Its aim is to provide observing support at longer
The list of the GASP monitored blazars includes 28 bright objects:
References
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- ^ "WEBT publications".