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- An, T., et al.
(author)
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Evolving parsec-scale radio structure in the most distant blazar known
- 2020
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723 .- 2041-1723. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Blazars are a sub-class of quasars with Doppler boosted jets oriented close to the line of sight, and thus efficient probes of supermassive black hole growth and their environment, especially at high redshifts. Here we report on Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations of a blazar J0906 + 6930 at z = 5.47, which enabled the detection of polarised emission and measurement of jet proper motion at parsec scales. The observations suggest a less powerful jet compared with the general blazar population, including lower proper motion and bulk Lorentz factor. This coupled with a previously inferred high accretion rate indicate a transition from an accretion radiative power to a jet mechanical power based transfer of energy and momentum to the surrounding gas. While alternative scenarios could not be fully ruled out, our results indicate a possibly nascent jet embedded in and interacting with a dense medium resulting in a jet bending.
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- Coustenis, A., et al.
(author)
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TandEM : Titan and Enceladus mission
- 2009
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In: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 23:3, s. 893-946
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- TandEM was proposed as an L-class (large) mission in response to ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Call, and accepted for further studies, with the goal of exploring Titan and Enceladus. The mission concept is to perform in situ investigations of two worlds tied together by location and properties, whose remarkable natures have been partly revealed by the ongoing Cassini-Huygens mission. These bodies still hold mysteries requiring a complete exploration using a variety of vehicles and instruments. TandEM is an ambitious mission because its targets are two of the most exciting and challenging bodies in the Solar System. It is designed to build on but exceed the scientific and technological accomplishments of the Cassini-Huygens mission, exploring Titan and Enceladus in ways that are not currently possible (full close-up and in situ coverage over long periods of time). In the current mission architecture, TandEM proposes to deliver two medium-sized spacecraft to the Saturnian system. One spacecraft would be an orbiter with a large host of instruments which would perform several Enceladus flybys and deliver penetrators to its surface before going into a dedicated orbit around Titan alone, while the other spacecraft would carry the Titan in situ investigation components, i.e. a hot-air balloon (MontgolfiSre) and possibly several landing probes to be delivered through the atmosphere.
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4. |
- Duev, Dmitry, et al.
(author)
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Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) technique: A test case of the Mars Express Phobos fly-by
- 2016
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 593:A34
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The closest ever fly-by of the Martian moon Phobos, performed by the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, gives a unique opportunity to sharpen and test the Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiments (PRIDE) technique in the interest of studying planet-satellite systems. Aims. The aim of this work is to demonstrate a technique of providing high precision positional and Doppler measurements of planetary spacecraft using the Mars Express spacecraft. The technique will be used in the framework of Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiments in various planetary missions, in particular in fly-by mode. Methods. We advanced a novel approach to spacecraft data processing using the techniques of Doppler and phase-referenced very long baseline interferometry spacecraft tracking. Results. We achieved, on average, mHz precision (30 mu m/s at a 10 s integration time) for radial three-way Doppler estimates and sub-nanoradian precision for lateral position measurements, which in a linear measure (at a distance of 1.4 AU) corresponds to similar to 50 m.
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5. |
- Fletcher, Leigh N., et al.
(author)
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Jupiter Science Enabled by ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
- 2023
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In: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer Nature. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 219:7
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will provide a detailed investigation of the Jovian system in the 2030s, combining a suite of state-of-the-art instruments with an orbital tour tailored to maximise observing opportunities. We review the Jupiter science enabled by the JUICE mission, building on the legacy of discoveries from the Galileo, Cassini, and Juno missions, alongside ground- and space-based observatories. We focus on remote sensing of the climate, meteorology, and chemistry of the atmosphere and auroras from the cloud-forming weather layer, through the upper troposphere, into the stratosphere and ionosphere. The Jupiter orbital tour provides a wealth of opportunities for atmospheric and auroral science: global perspectives with its near-equatorial and inclined phases, sampling all phase angles from dayside to nightside, and investigating phenomena evolving on timescales from minutes to months. The remote sensing payload spans far-UV spectroscopy (50-210 nm), visible imaging (340-1080 nm), visible/near-infrared spectroscopy (0.49-5.56 & mu;m), and sub-millimetre sounding (near 530-625 GHz and 1067-1275 GHz). This is coupled to radio, stellar, and solar occultation opportunities to explore the atmosphere at high vertical resolution; and radio and plasma wave measurements of electric discharges in the Jovian atmosphere and auroras. Cross-disciplinary scientific investigations enable JUICE to explore coupling processes in giant planet atmospheres, to show how the atmosphere is connected to (i) the deep circulation and composition of the hydrogen-dominated interior; and (ii) to the currents and charged particle environments of the external magnetosphere. JUICE will provide a comprehensive characterisation of the atmosphere and auroras of this archetypal giant planet.
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6. |
- Frey, S., et al.
(author)
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J1026+2542: Proper motion in a blazar jet at z=5.27
- 2014
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In: Proceedings of Science. - 1824-8039.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The radio-loud AGN J1026+2542 has recently been classified as the second most distant blazar, based on its broad-band spectral energy distribution and X-ray spectrum. The source with a prominent one-sided jet extending to at least ∼20 mas was earlier observed with the VLBA at 5 GHz in January 2006. With our new EVN observation (May 2013), we detected the displacement and directly measured the apparent proper motion of the jet components, for the first time at such a high redshift. The 1.6-GHz EVN observation provided additional information on the extent and the spectral properties of the jet. The VLBI results are consistent with the picture in which J1026+2542 has its jet oriented close to the line of sight, with significant Doppler boosting and a large bulk Lorentz factor. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence.
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7. |
- Frey, S., et al.
(author)
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The first estimate of radio jet proper motion at z > 5
- 2015
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 446:3, s. 2921-2928
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The extremely high-redshift (z = 5.3) radio source SDSS J102623.61+254259.5 (J1026+2542) is among the most distant and most luminous radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) known to date. Its one-sided radio jet structure on milliarcsecond (mas) and similar to 10-mas scales typical for blazars was first imaged at 5 GHz with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) in 2006. Here we report on our dual-frequency (1.7 and 5 GHz) imaging observations performed with the European VLBI Network (EVN) in 2013. The prominent jet structure allows us to identify individual components whose apparent displacement can be detected over the time span of 7.33 yr. This is the first time when jet proper motions are directly derived in a blazar at z > 5. The small values of up to similar to 0.1 mas yr(-1) are consistent with what is expected in a relativistic cosmological model if redshift is a measure of distance. The apparent superluminal jet speeds, considered tentative because derived from two epochs only, exceed 10 c for three different components along the jet. Based on modelling its spectral energy distribution, J1026+2542 is known to have its X-ray jet oriented close to the line of sight, with significant Doppler boosting and a large bulk Lorentz factor (Gamma approximate to 13). The new VLBI observations, indicating similar to 2.3 x 10(12) K lower limit to the core brightness temperature, are consistent with this picture. The spectral index in the core region is -0.35.
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8. |
- Ghirlanda, G., et al.
(author)
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Compact radio emission indicates a structured jet was produced by a binary neutron star merger
- 2019
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 363:6430, s. 968-971
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The binary neutron star merger event GW170817 was detected through both electromagnetic radiation and gravitational waves. Its afterglow emission may have been produced by either a narrow relativistic jet or an isotropic outflow. High-spatial-resolution measurements of the source size and displacement can discriminate between these scenarios. We present very-long-baseline interferometry observations, performed 207.4 days after the merger by using a global network of 32 radio telescopes. The apparent source size is constrained to be smaller than 2.5 milli-arc seconds at the 90% confidence level. This excludes the isotropic outflow scenario, which would have produced a larger apparent size, indicating that GW170817 produced a structured relativistic jet. Our rate calculations show that at least 10% of neutron star mergers produce such a jet.
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10. |
- Gurvits, Leonid, et al.
(author)
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Counting matchings via capacity-preserving operators
- 2021
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In: Combinatorics, probability & computing. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 0963-5483 .- 1469-2163. ; 30:6, s. 956-981
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The notion of the capacity of a polynomial was introduced by Gurvits around 2005, originally to give drastically simplified proofs of the van der Waerden lower bound for permanents of doubly stochastic matrices and Schrijver's inequality for perfect matchings of regular bipartite graphs. Since this seminal work, the notion of capacity has been utilised to bound various combinatorial quantities and to give polynomial-time algorithms to approximate such quantities (e.g. the number of bases of a matroid). These types of results are often proven by giving bounds on how much a particular differential operator can change the capacity of a given polynomial. In this paper, we unify the theory surrounding such capacity-preserving operators by giving tight capacity preservation bounds for all nondegenerate real stability preservers. We then use this theory to give a new proof of a recent result of Csikvari, which settled Friedland's lower matching conjecture.
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