Optical Intraday Variability Studies of Ten Low Energy Peaked Blazars
  We have carried out optical (R band) intraday variability (IDV) monitoring of
a sample of ten bright low energy peaked blazars (LBLs). Forty photometric
observations, of an average of ~ 4 hours each, were made between 2008 September
and 2009 June using two telescopes in India. Measurements with good signal to
noise ratios were typically obtained within 1-3 minutes, allowing the detection
of weak, fast variations using N-star differential photometry. We employed both
structure function and discrete correlation function analysis methods to
estimate any dominant timescales of variability and found that in most of the
cases any such timescales were longer than the duration of the observation. The
calculated duty cycle of IDV in LBLs during our observing run is ~ 52%, which
is low compared to many earlier studies; however, the relatively short periods
for which each source was observed can probably explain this difference. We
briefly discuss possible emission mechanisms for the observed variability.
