CCD Photometry and Optical Variability of the BL Lacertae Object H0323+022

Abstract

We present optical photometry (B, V, R, and I) of the BL Lac object H0323+022 (z = 0.147) for the years 2000-2003. These were observed in the high-luminosity state with the 1 m telescope at the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory and the 1.56 m telescope at the ShangHai Astronomical Observatory. Our results show significant rapid variation and exhibit a short time variability of 19 minutes in the I band. We find a strong correlation between the B − V color index and the magnitude in the V band. Our CCD photometry of H0323+022 show good agreement with Bai et al., who find optical variability in the I and R magnitudes of about ΔI = 0.80 mag and ΔR = 0.63 mag.