No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 July 2016
The radio domain spans only a small fraction of the total electromagnetic spectrum, and is for most active galaxies energetically insignificant in comparison with higher frequencies. However, only in the radio regime can we obtain continuous fluxcurves and be certain that we are not missing anything. We also believe we know where the radiation comes from, and by which mechanisms it is produced. Furthermore, since VLBI generally cannot resolve the smallest core components, multifrequency continuum monitoring remains our only way to study the innermost radio cores of AGN. Finally, continuum monitoring is cheap (although time-consuming) in comparison with most other methods, and therefore we can observe many more sources and with far better time coverage.