| 1. |
- Kim, Jae-Young, et al.
(författare)
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Event Horizon Telescope imaging of the archetypal blazar 3C 279 at an extreme 20 microarcsecond resolution
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 640
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 3C 279 is an archetypal blazar with a prominent radio jet that show broadband flux density variability across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. We use an ultra-high angular resolution technique - global Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at 1.3mm (230 GHz) - to resolve the innermost jet of 3C 279 in order to study its fine-scale morphology close to the jet base where highly variable-ray emission is thought to originate, according to various models. The source was observed during four days in April 2017 with the Event Horizon Telescope at 230 GHz, including the phased Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, at an angular resolution of ∼20 μas (at a redshift of z = 0:536 this corresponds to ∼0:13 pc ∼ 1700 Schwarzschild radii with a black hole mass MBH = 8 × 108 M⊙). Imaging and model-fitting techniques were applied to the data to parameterize the fine-scale source structure and its variation.We find a multicomponent inner jet morphology with the northernmost component elongated perpendicular to the direction of the jet, as imaged at longer wavelengths. The elongated nuclear structure is consistent on all four observing days and across diffierent imaging methods and model-fitting techniques, and therefore appears robust. Owing to its compactness and brightness, we associate the northern nuclear structure as the VLBI "core". This morphology can be interpreted as either a broad resolved jet base or a spatially bent jet.We also find significant day-to-day variations in the closure phases, which appear most pronounced on the triangles with the longest baselines. Our analysis shows that this variation is related to a systematic change of the source structure. Two inner jet components move non-radially at apparent speeds of ∼15 c and ∼20 c (∼1:3 and ∼1:7 μas day-1, respectively), which more strongly supports the scenario of traveling shocks or instabilities in a bent, possibly rotating jet. The observed apparent speeds are also coincident with the 3C 279 large-scale jet kinematics observed at longer (cm) wavelengths, suggesting no significant jet acceleration between the 1.3mm core and the outer jet. The intrinsic brightness temperature of the jet components are ≤1010 K, a magnitude or more lower than typical values seen at ≥7mm wavelengths. The low brightness temperature and morphological complexity suggest that the core region of 3C 279 becomes optically thin at short (mm) wavelengths.
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| 2. |
- Wagner, J., et al.
(författare)
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First 230? : GHz VLBI fringes on 3C 279 using the APEX Telescope (Research Note)
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 581
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. We report about a 230? GHz very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) fringe finder observation of blazar 3C 279 with the APEX telescope in Chile, the phased submillimeter array (SMA), and the SMT of the Arizona Radio Observatory (ARO). Methods. We installed VLBI equipment and measured the APEX station position to 1? cm accuracy (1σ). We then observed 3C 279 on 2012 May 7 in a 5? h 230? GHz VLBI track with baseline lengths of 2800? Mλ to 7200? Mλ and a finest fringe spacing of 28.6? μas. Results. Fringes were detected on all baselines with signal-to-noise ratios of 12 to 55 in 420? s. The correlated flux density on the longest baseline was ∼0.3? Jy beam-1, out of a total flux density of 19.8? Jy. Visibility data suggest an emission region ≤ 38? μas in size, and at least two components, possibly polarized. We find a lower limit of the brightness temperature of the inner jet region of about 1010? K. Lastly, we find an upper limit of 20% on the linear polarization fraction at a fringe spacing of ∼ 38? μas. Conclusions. With APEX the angular resolution of 230? GHz VLBI improves to 28.6? μas. This allows one to resolve the last-photon ring around the Galactic Center black hole event horizon, expected to be 40? μas in diameter, and probe radio jet launching at unprecedented resolution, down to a few gravitational radii in galaxies like M 87. To probe the structure in the inner parsecs of 3C 279 in detail, follow-up observations with APEX and five other mm-VLBI stations have been conducted (March 2013) and are being analyzed.
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| 3. |
- Bartel, N., et al.
(författare)
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The Compact Radio Source 2021+614 : Simultaneous 2.3 and 8.3 GHz Mark III VLBI Observations
- 1984
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - Philadelphia, PA : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 279:1, s. 116-121
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Second-epoch VLBI observations of the flat-spectrum radio source 2021+614 made simultaneously at 2.3 and 8.3 GHz with the Mark III system are reported. The maps derived from these observations reveal a complex, frequency-dependent radio structure on the milliarcsecond scale. The object has four nearly collinear components oriented at a position angle of about 35 degrees and embedded in an extended region. Two of these are optically thin, one has a flat spectrum, and the other appears to be synchrotron self-absorbed in the frequency range 2.3-8.3 GHz. No significant structural variation is found at either frequency between epochs separated by about three years. The formal estimate of the transverse velocity between two components, one with a flat and the other with an inverted spectrum, is v/c = 0.7 + or - 2.3. Remarkable similarities between 2021+614 and the unusual source 0316+413 are discussed.
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