Abstract:
We study the optical flux and polarization variability of the binary black hole blazar OJ 287 using quasi simultaneous observations from 2015 to 2023 carried out using telescopes in the USA, Japan, Russia, Crimea, and
Bulgaria. This is one of the most extensive quasi-simultaneous optical flux and polarization variability studies of
OJ 287. OJ 287 showed large amplitude, ∼3.0 mag flux variability, large changes of ∼37% in degree of
polarization, and a large swing of ∼215° in the angle of the electric vector of polarization. During the period of
observation, several flares in flux were detected. Those flares are correlated with a rapid increase in the degree of
polarization and swings in electric vector of polarization angle. A peculiar behavior of anticorrelation between flux
and polarization degree, accompanied by a nearly constant polarization angle, was detected from JD 2,458,156 to
JD 2,458,292. We briefly discuss some explanations for the flux and polarization variations observed in OJ 287.
