Abstract. We present UBVRI light curves of BL Lacertae from May 2000 to January 2001, obtained by 24 telescopes in 11 countries. More than 15 000 observations were performed in that period, which was the extension of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) campaign originally planned for July-August 2000. The exceptional sampling reached allows one to follow the flux behaviour in fine detail. Two different phases can be distinguished in the light curves: a first, relatively low-brightness phase is followed by an outburst phase, after a more than 1 mag brightening in a few weeks. Both the time duration (about 100 d) and the variation amplitude (roughly 0.9 mag) are similar in the two phases. Rapid flux oscillations are present all the time, involving variations up to a few tenths of mag on hour time scales, and witnessing an intense intraday activity of this source. In particular, a half-mag brightness decrease in about 7 h was detected on August 8-9, 2000, immediately followed by a ∼0.4 mag brightening in 1.7 h. Colour indexes have been derived by coupling the highest precision B and R data taken by the same instrument within 20 min and after subtracting the host galaxy contribution from the fluxes. The 620 indexes obtained show that the optical spectrum is weakly sensitive to the long-term trend, while it strictly follows the short-term flux behaviour, becoming bluer when the brightness increases. Thus, spectral changes are not related to the host galaxy contribution, but they are an intrinsic feature of fast flares. We suggest that the achromatic mechanism causing the long-term flux base-level modulation can be envisaged in a variation of the relativistic Doppler beaming factor, and that this variation is likely due to a change of the viewing angle. Discrete correlation function (DCF) analysis reveals the existence of a characteristic time scale of variability of ∼7 h in the light curve of the core WEBT campaign, while no measurable time delay between variations in the B and R bands is found.

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BL Lacertae was the target of an extensive multiwavelength monitoring campaign in the second half of 2000. Simultaneous or quasi-simultaneous observations were taken at radio (UMRAO and Metsaehovi) and optical(WEBT collaboration) frequencies, in X-rays (BeppoSAX and RXTE), and at VHE gamma-rays (HEGRA). The WEBT optical campaign achieved an unprecedented time coverage, virtually continuous over several 10 - 20 hour segments. It revealed intraday variability on time scales of ~ 1.5 hours and evidence for spectral hardening associated with increasing optical flux. During the campaign, BL Lacertae underwent a major transition from a rather quiescent state prior to September 2000, to a flaring state for the rest of the year. This was also evident in the X-ray activity of the source. BeppoSAX observations on July 26/27 revealed a rather low X-ray flux and a hard spectrum, while a BeppoSAX pointing on Oct. 31 - Nov. 2, 2000, indicated significant variability on time scales of < a few hours, and provided evidence for the synchrotron spectrum extending out to ~ 10 keV during that time. During the July 26/27 observation, there is a tantalizing, though not statistically significant, indication of a time delay of ~ 4 - 5 hr between the BeppoSAX and the R-band light curve. Also, a low-significance detection of a time delay of 15 d between the 14.5 GHz and the 22 GHz radio light curves is reported. Several independent methods to estimate the co-moving magnetic field in the source are presented, suggesting a value of ~ 2 e_B^{2/7} G, where e_B is the magnetic-field equipartition factor w.r.t. the electron energy density in the jet.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

We report here the discovery by the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) of iPTF14yb, a luminous (M r ≈ −27.8 mag), cosmological (redshift 1.9733), rapidly fading optical transient. We demonstrate, based on probabilistic arguments and a comparison with the broader population, that iPTF14yb is the optical afterglow of the long-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 140226A. This marks the first unambiguous discovery of a GRB afterglow prior to (and thus entirely independent of) an associated high-energy trigger. We estimate the rate of iPTF14yb-like sources (i.e., cosmologically distant relativistic explosions) based on iPTF observations, inferring an all-sky value of rel = 610 yr −1 (68% confidence interval of 110-2000 yr −1 ). Our derived rate is consistent (within the large uncertainty) with the all-sky rate of on-axis GRBs derived by the Swift satellite. Finally, we briefly discuss the implications of the nondetection to date of bona fide "orphan" afterglows (i.e., those lacking detectable high-energy emission) on GRB beaming and the degree of baryon loading in these relativistic jets.