Observations of the Structure and Dynamics of the Inner M87 Jet
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. The Observations
3. Jet Shape
4. Jet Speed
5. Long Term Variations
6. Summary
- The jet has an edge-brightened structure with a wide opening angle at the base and a parabolic shape over the region of these observations.
- The velocity structure is complex, with co-existing slow moving features (∼0.4c) and superluminal features (∼2.3c). These are seen both using traditional methods of following emission peaks and through the WISE analysis.
- The faster moving system accelerates to near its full speed over the first ∼2 mas, which is ∼0.16 pc (∼274 R) in projection or ∼0.52 pc (∼890 R) along the jet for a jet angle to the line-of-sight of .
- There is a counterjet that mirrors the structure of the main jet, but drops rapidly in brightness as would be expected in the acceleration region.
- An angle to the line-of-sight of is determined by 3 methods based on the WISE results.
- There is a difference in the measured speed of the northern and southern rims of the jet. A possible implication is rotation of the jet with a rate of about s. That, in turn, suggests the jet is launched from the disk at a radius of ∼5 R.
- Roughly annual observations over 17 years show that there are side-to-side motions of the entire jet with a characteristic time scale of about 9 years.
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Walker, R.C.; Hardee, P.E.; Davies, F.; Ly, C.; Junor, W.; Mertens, F.; Lobanov, A. Observations of the Structure and Dynamics of the Inner M87 Jet. Galaxies 2016, 4, 46. https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies4040046
Walker RC, Hardee PE, Davies F, Ly C, Junor W, Mertens F, Lobanov A. Observations of the Structure and Dynamics of the Inner M87 Jet. Galaxies. 2016; 4(4):46. https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies4040046
Chicago/Turabian StyleWalker, R. Craig, Philip E. Hardee, Fred Davies, Chun Ly, William Junor, Florent Mertens, and Andrei Lobanov. 2016. "Observations of the Structure and Dynamics of the Inner M87 Jet" Galaxies 4, no. 4: 46. https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies4040046