Colour variation of the BL Lacertae object PKS 0537–441

Abstract

We present the colour indices V − R of BL Lacertae object PKS 0537–441 on the basis of the photometric data monitored by the Rapid Eye Mounting (REM) telescope located at the ESO Cerro La Silla observatory (Chile). Nearly 700 quasi-simultaneous data groups were collected during the period from 2004 to 2010. Our colour analysis shows the existence of at least two variability mechanisms: one is the long-term chromatic mechanism in which the variation traces a 0.04 ± 0.01 slope in the V − R versus V plot, the other is the chromatic mechanism implying the spectral changes during the flares and on intraday time-scales. A general bluer-when-brighter trend is confirmed in both ascent and descent states during the flares and in the 2010 February flare interval, while a much stronger bluer-when-brighter chromatism is observed in both faint and bright states on intraday time-scales. The discrete correlation function analysis reveals the existence of a time-lag of |$13^{+5.8}_{-1.2}$| d between colour indices and magnitudes during the period MJD 54404–54453, whereas no measurable time-lag during other periods is found. Our results suggest that geometric effects may be responsible for the long-term achromatic mechanism, while the intrinsic shock-in-jet mechanism may produce the chromatic variability during the flares and on intraday time-scales.