CONTINUUM AND LINE FLUXES OF OJ 287 AT MINIMUM LIGHT

We report optical-infrared continuum observations of OJ287 during its lowest recorded flux level. The spectrum was steeper than previously seen, but does not unambiguously show the presence of any underlying galaxy. It is suggested that this is primarily due to the object's still being too bright to make such a detection in this manner. We also report spectroscopie observations of OJ287 showing the presence of Hα, Hβ, and [Oiii] emission lines. These lines confirm a redshift z = 0.306. The data are also used to compare the emitted luminosities in these lines to those of other active extragalactic objects. We find these lines intrinsically underluminous compared to quasars of similar ionizing luminosities. The data are consistent with OJ287 being deficient in gas compared to normal quasars or with the observed continuum flux having a Doppler factor of δ ~ 4.