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Description
We have monitored the quasar 3C 273 in the optical V, R, and I bands from 2005 to 2016. Intraday variability (IDV) is detected on seven nights. The variability amplitudes on most of the nights are less than 10%, and on four nights, more than 20%. When considering the nights with time spans >4hr, the duty cycle (DC) is 14.17%. Over the 12yrs, the overall magnitude and color index variabilities are {Delta}I=0.67, {Delta}R=0.72, {Delta}V=0.68, and {Delta}(V-R)=0.25, respectively. The largest clear IDV has an amplitude of 42% over just 5.8 minutes, and the weakest detected IDV is 5.4% over 175 minutes. The BWB (bluer when brighter) chromatic trend is dominant for 3C 273 and appears at different flux levels on intraday timescales. The BWB trend exists for short-term timescales and intermediate-term timescales but different timescales have different correlations. There is no BWB trend for our whole time-series data sets. A significant anticorrelation between the BWB trend and length of timescales is found. Combining with V-band data from previous works, we find a possible quasi-periodicity of P=3918+/-1112 days. The possible explanations for the observed variability, BWB chromatic trend, and periodicity are discussed.
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