Optical Monitoring Sample of the GeV Gamma‐Ray–loud Blazars

Abstract

We present optical monitoring between 1994 February and 1997 December of 10 γ-ray-loud blazars included in our blazar monitoring program. Most of the monitored objects show significant rapid variations. The typical minimum variability timescale in the optical range is about 1 hour. We have analyzed the relationships between optical variability and γ-ray variability, and discussed theoretical models for the γ-ray-loud blazar emission.