Optical follow-up of BL Lac candidates in the 2BL sample

Abstract

We investigate the nature of the BL Lac candidates in the northern part of the 2BL sample (Londish et al. 2002, MNRAS, 334, 941) searching for optical variability by means of R C band photometry with the Asiago 1.8 and Loiano 1.5 m telescopes during years 2002, 2003 and 2004. We also made aperture photometry of the candidates on the plates available on the web from the Palomar and UK Schmidt telescopes. No significant variability was detected for the majority of the objects without detected radio and/or X-ray emissions, while clear variability was found for the few sources of the sample with strong radio and/or X-ray emission, which is a constant feature of the classical BL Lacs. Some considerations on the nature of the 2BL sources are made, taking into account their most recent data available in proper motions catalogues (SuperCOSMOS, USNO-B 1) and in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.