Abstract
The collimation of relativistic jets launched from the vicinity of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the centers of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is one of the key questions to understand ...the nature of AGN jets. However, little is known about the detailed jet structure for AGN like quasars since very high angular resolutions are required to resolve these objects. We present very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of the archetypical quasar 3C 273 at 86 GHz, performed with the Global Millimeter VLBI Array, for the first time including the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Our observations achieve a high angular resolution down to ∼60
μ
as, resolving the innermost part of the jet ever on scales of ∼10
5
Schwarzschild radii. Our observations, including close-in-time High Sensitivity Array observations of 3C 273 at 15, 22, and 43 GHz, suggest that the inner jet collimates parabolically, while the outer jet expands conically, similar to jets from other nearby low-luminosity AGNs. We discovered the jet collimation break around 10
7
Schwarzschild radii, providing the first compelling evidence for structural transition in a quasar jet. The location of the collimation break for 3C 273 is farther downstream from the sphere of gravitational influence (SGI) from the central SMBH. With the results for other AGN jets, our results show that the end of the collimation zone in AGN jets is governed not only by the SGI of the SMBH but also by the more diverse properties of the central nuclei.
Abstract
We present results from the first 22 GHz space very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) imaging observations of M87 by RadioAstron. As a part of the Nearby AGN Key Science Program, the ...source was observed in 2014 February at 22 GHz with 21 ground stations, reaching projected (
u
,
v
) spacings up to ∼11 G
λ
. The imaging experiment was complemented by snapshot RadioAstron data of M87 obtained during 2013–2016 from the AGN Survey Key Science Program. Their longest baselines extend up to ∼25 G
λ
. For all of these measurements, fringes are detected only up to ∼2.8 Earth diameter or ∼3 G
λ
baseline lengths, resulting in a new image with angular resolution of ∼150
μ
as or ∼20 Schwarzschild radii spatial resolution. The new image not only shows edge-brightened jet and counterjet structures down to submilliarcsecond scales but also clearly resolves the VLBI core region. While the overall size of the core is comparable to those reported in the literature, the ground-space fringe detection and slightly superresolved RadioAstron image suggest the presence of substructures in the nucleus, whose minimum brightness temperature exceeds
T
B
,
min
∼
10
12
K. It is challenging to explain the origin of this record-high
T
B
,
min
value for M87 by pure Doppler boosting effect with a simple conical jet geometry and known jet speed. Therefore, this can be evidence for more extreme Doppler boosting due to a blazar-like small jet viewing angle or highly efficient particle acceleration processes occurring already at the base of the outflow.
Multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) study of a sub-pc scale jet of 3C 84 is presented. We carried out 14-epoch VLBI observations during 2006–2009 with the Japanese VLBI Network and ...the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry, immediately following a radio outburst that began in 2005. We confirmed that the outburst was associated with the central
$\sim1$
pc core, accompanying the emergence of a new component. This is striking evidence of the recurrence of jet activity. The new component became brighter during 2008, in contrast to constant
$\gamma$
-ray emission that was observed with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope during the same time. We found that the projected speed of the new component was 0.23
$ c$
from 2007/297 (2007 October 24) to 2009/114 (2009 April 24). The direction of movement of this component differs from that of the pre-existing component by
$\sim $
40
$^{\circ}$
. This was the first measurement of the kinematics of a sub-pc jet in a
$\gamma$
-ray active phase. A possible detection of jet deceleration and the jet kinematics in connection with the
$\gamma$
-ray emission is discussed.
The Disk-Driven Jet of Cygnus A Boccardi, Bia; Krichbaum, Thomas; Bach, Uwe
Galaxies,
04/2017, Volume:
5, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Recently published results from VLBI observations at 3 and 7 millimeters of the radio galaxy Cygnus A are reviewed in this article, and discussed within the model of a prominently stratified jet ...outflow. At the source redshift ( z = 0.056), mm-VLBI allows a spatial resolution down to 200 Schwarzschild radii to be achieved, providing an extremely detailed view of the two-sided jet base. Through a study of the kinematic properties of the flow and of its transverse structure, it is shown that the radio emission is produced by an accelerating, mildly relativistic, parabolically expanding disk-wind. The observed transverse stratification, both of the flux density and of the bulk speed, supports the presence of an invisible faster spine close to the jet axis, powered either by the inner regions of the accretion disk or by the spinning black hole.
We present total and linearly polarized 3 mm Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA; mm-VLBI: Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations at millimetre wavelengths) images of a sample of blazars and radio ...galaxies from the VLBA-BU-BLAZAR 7 mm monitoring program designed to probe the innermost regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets and locate the sites of gamma-ray emission observed by the Fermi-LAT. The lower opacity at 3 mm and improved angular resolution—on the order of 50 microarcseconds—allow us to distinguish features in the jet not visible in the 7 mm VLBA data. We also compare two different methods used for the calibration of instrumental polarisation and we analyze the resulting images for some of the sources in the sample.
We present the first polarimetric space very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) imaging observations at 22 GHz. BL Lacertae was observed in 2013 November 10 with the RadioAstron space VLBI mission, ...including a ground array of 15 radio telescopes. The instrumental polarization of the space radio telescope is found to be less than 9%, demonstrating the polarimetric imaging capabilities of RadioAstron at 22 GHz. Ground-space fringes were obtained up to a projected baseline distance of 7.9 Earth diameters in length, allowing us to image the jet in BL Lacertae with a maximum angular resolution of 21 mu as, the highest achieved to date. We find evidence for emission upstream of the radio core, which may correspond to a recollimation shock at about 40 mu as from the jet apex, in a pattern that includes other recollimation shocks at approximately 100 and 250 mu as from the jet apex. Polarized emission is detected in two components within the innermost 0.5 mas from the core, as well as in some knots 3 mas downstream. Faraday rotation analysis, obtained from combining RadioAstron 22 GHz and ground-based 15 and 43 GHz images, shows a gradient in rotation measure and Faraday-corrected polarization vector as a function of position angle with respect to the core, suggesting that the jet in BL Lacertae is threaded by a helical magnetic field. The intrinsic de-boosted brightness temperature in the unresolved core exceeds 3 x 10 super(12) K, suggesting, at the very least, departure from equipartition of energy between the magnetic field and radiating particles.
The occultation of the radio galaxy 0141+268 by the asteroid (372) Palma on 2017 May 15 was observed using six antennas of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). The shadow of Palma crossed the VLBA ...station at Brewster, Washington. Owing to the wavelength used, and the size and the distance of the asteroid, a diffraction pattern in the Fraunhofer regime was observed. The measurement retrieves both the amplitude and the phase of the diffracted electromagnetic wave. This is the first astronomical measurement of the phase shift caused by diffraction. The maximum phase shift is sensitive to the effective diameter of the asteroid. The bright spot at the shadow's center, the so called Arago-Poisson spot, is clearly detected in the amplitude time-series, and its strength is a good indicator of the closest angular distance between the center of the asteroid and the radio source. A sample of random shapes constructed using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm suggests that the silhouette of Palma deviates from a perfect circle by 26 13%. The best-fitting random shapes resemble each other, and we suggest their average approximates the shape of the silhouette at the time of the occultation. The effective diameter obtained for Palma, 192.1 4.8 km, is in excellent agreement with recent estimates from thermal modeling of mid-infrared photometry. Finally, our computations show that because of the high positional accuracy, a single radio interferometric occultation measurement can reduce the long-term ephemeris uncertainty by an order of magnitude.
Abstract
We present the first polarimetric space very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of OJ 287, observed with RadioAstron at 22 GHz during a perigee session on 2014 April 4 and five ...near-in-time snapshots, together with contemporaneous ground VLBI observations at 15, 43, and 86 GHz. Ground-space fringes were obtained up to a projected baseline of 3.9 Earth diameters during the perigee session, and at a record 15.1 Earth diameters during the snapshot sessions, allowing us to image the innermost jet at an angular resolution of ∼50
μ
as, the highest ever achieved at 22 GHz for OJ 287. Comparison with ground-based VLBI observations reveals a progressive jet bending with increasing angular resolution that agrees with predictions from a supermassive binary black hole model, although other models cannot be ruled out. Spectral analyses suggest that the VLBI core is dominated by the internal energy of the emitting particles during the onset of a multiwavelength flare, while the parsec-scale jet is consistent with being in equipartition between the particles and magnetic field. Estimated minimum brightness temperatures from the visibility amplitudes show a continued rising trend with projected baseline length up to 10
13
K, reconciled with the inverse-Compton limit through Doppler boosting for a jet closely oriented to the line of sight. The observed electric vector position angle suggests that the innermost jet has a predominantly toroidal magnetic field, which, together with marginal evidence of a gradient in rotation measure across the jet width, indicates that the VLBI core is threaded by a helical magnetic field, in agreement with jet formation models.
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