Multiwavelength behaviour of the blazar OJ 248 from radio to
  {\gamma}-rays
  We present an analysis of the multiwavelength behaviour of the blazar OJ 248
at z = 0.939 in the period 2006-2013. We use low-energy data (optical,
near-infrared, and radio) obtained by 21 observatories participating in the
GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT),
as well as data from the Swift (optical-UV and X-rays) and Fermi (gamma-rays)
satellites, to study flux and spectral variability and correlations among
emissions in different bands. We take into account the effect of absorption by
the Damped Lyman Alpha intervening system at z = 0.525. Two major outbursts
were observed in 2006-2007 and in 2012-2013 at optical and near-IR wavelengths,
while in the high-frequency radio light curves prominent radio outbursts are
visible peaking at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2013, revealing a complex
radio-optical correlation. Cross-correlation analysis suggests a delay of the
optical variations after the gamma-ray ones of about a month, which is a
peculiar behaviour in blazars. We also analyse optical polarimetric and
spectroscopic data. The average polarization percentage P is less than 3 per
cent, but it reaches about 19 per cent during the early stage of the 2012-2013
outburst. A vague correlation of P with brightness is observed. There is no
preferred electric vector polarisation angle and during the outburst the linear
polarization vector shows wide rotations in both directions, suggesting a
complex behaviour or structure of the jet and possible turbulence. The analysis
of 140 optical spectra acquired at the Steward Observatory reveals a strong Mg
II broad emission line with an essentially stable flux of 6.2 e-15 erg cm-2 s-1
and a full width at half-maximum of 2053 km s-1.
