STRONG INFRARED FLUX VARIABILITY IS A CLEAN SIGNATURE OF STRONGLY-BEAMED JETS OF OUTFLOWING MATERIAL ARISING FROM THE CENTRAL SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN A CLASS OF RARE GALAXIES KNOWN AS BLAZARS WHOSE JETS ARE POINTED NEARLY DIRECTLY AT THE OBSERVER; SUCH BLAZARS ARE ALSO PRODIGIOUS EMITTERS OF HIGH-ENERGY GAMMA-RAYS AS OBSERVED IN NASA'S FERMI GAMMA-RAY SPACE TELESCOPE. WE AREUSING NEAR-INFRARED OBSERVATIONS FROM THE WISE (WIDE INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER) SURVEY TO SYSTEMATICALLY SEARCH FOR NEW BLAZAR COUNTERPARTS TO PREVIOUSLY UNIDENTIFIED FERMI GAMMA-RAY SOURCES. THIS COMBINATION OF NASA-BASED GAMMA-RAY AND INFRARED STUDIES WILL IDENTIFY THE BULK OF ALL BLAZAR COUNTERPARTS TO FERMI GAMMA-RAY EMITTERS AND UNVEIL A LARGE POPULATION OF HUNDREDS OF PREVIOUSLYUNCHARACTERIZED BLAZARS FOR THE FIRST TIME.

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators