2017MNRAS.469.1682Z

We report the results of optical monitoring of the high synchrotron energy peaked blazar (HSP), 1ES 1959+650, performed with the 80-cm optical telescope at Xinglong Optical Observatory in 2010-2016. Our study was focused on the optical variability of the source on diverse time-scales over about 6 yr, which is helpful in understanding the variability mechanisms of blazars. Over 19 nights of intense photometric observations, we obtained 38 intranight light curves in the different bands. Intranight variability was not detected from all of these light curves. However, 1ES 1959+650 exhibited significant variations on the short-term (months) and long-term (years) time-scales. During the whole period of our monitoring, the maximum changes in the brightness of the source was 1.38 ± 0.05 and 1.17 ± 0.03 mag in the B and R waveband, respectively. The larger variability amplitude in the blue band than in the red one is demonstrated by the bluer-when-brighter spectral trend. The B - R colour index showed a change of 0.21 ± 0.06 mag across our monitoring period. The non-detection of intranight variations of 1ES 1959+650 is in agreement with previous observations, showing that the optical fluxes of HSPs are less variable than those of intermediate/low synchrotron energy peaked blazars (ISPs/LSPs) on time-scales of hours. In contrast, the detections of significant short-term and long-term variability of the source suggest that the optical variability of HSPs might not be very different from those of ISPs/LSPs on time-scales of months and years. Finally, we discuss some possible scenarios for the differences and the similarities of optical variability on various time-scales between the two blazar subclasses.