In this work, we report a radio galaxy with precessing jets, double-peaked emission lines and the presence of two compact radio components with a projected separation of ~6 parsec in Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations. The emission line peak separations could be suggesting the presence of a supermassive black hole binary (BBH) with a separation of 6.3 parsec, matching the VLBI results. The kinematic jet precession model applied to the jets of J1328+2751 indicates that if it is a BBH, the accretion disk of the primary black hole is not coplanar with the binary system orbit, making its jet precess under the effect of the torque produced by the secondary black hole. However, we find that the Bardeen-Petterson effect can also provide precession timescales compatible with the jet precession period inferred in this source. This source has previously been identified as a restarted double-double radio galaxy (DDRG). Our findings therefore have important ramifications for the nature of DDRGs in general.
The prominent flat-spectrum radio quasar J0017+8135 (S5 0014+81) at z = 3.366 is one of the most luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN) known. Its milliarcsecond-scale radio jet structure has been studied with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) since the 1980s. The quasar was selected as one of the original defining objects of the International Celestial Reference Frame, but left out from its current second realization (ICRF2) because of systematic long-term positional variations. Here we analyse archival 8.6- and 2.3-GHz VLBI imaging data collected at nearly 100 different epochs during m…
We conducted multi-epoch VLBA phase reference observations of LS I +61 303 in order to study its precessing radio jet. Compared to similar observations in 2006, we find that the observed elliptical trajectory of emission at 8.4 GHz repeats after the 9-year gap. The accurate alignment of the emission patterns yields a precession period of 26.926 +- 0.005 d, which is consistent with that determined by Lomb-Scargle analysis of the radio light curve. We analytically model the projection on the sky plane of the peak position of a precessing, synchrotron-emitting jet, which traces an elliptical traj…
Observational studies of GHz peaked spectrum (GPS) sources contribute to the understanding of the radiative properties and interstellar environment of host galaxies. We present the results from the multi-frequency high-resolution VLBI observations of a sample of nine GPS sources at 8, 15, and 43 GHz. All sources show a core-jet structure. Four sources show relativistic jets with Doppler boosting factors ranging from 2.0 to 5.0 and a jet viewing angle between 10° and 30°. The core brightness temperatures of the other five sources are below the equipartition brightness temperature limit with the…
We study the variation of the optical polarization angle in the blazar OJ287 and compare it with the precessing binary black hole model with a 'live' accretion disk. First, a model of the variation of the jet direction is calculated, and the main parameters of the model are fixed by the long term optical brightness evolution. Then this model is compared with the variation of the parsec scale radio jet position angle in the sky. Finally, the variation of the polarization angle is calculated using the same model, but using a magnetic field configuration which is at a constant angle relative to t…
We present High Sensitivity Array (HSA) and enhanced Multi Element Remotely Linked Interferometer Network (eMERLIN) observations of the radio-loud broad-lined type Ic supernova PTF11qcj obtained $\sim7.5$ years after the explosion. Previous observations of this supernova at 5.5 yrs since explosion showed a double-peaked radio light curve accompanied by a detection in the X-rays, but no evidence for broad H$α$ spectral features. The Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations presented here show that the PTF11qcj GHz radio ejecta remains marginally resolved at the sub-milliarcsecond l…
This paper reports very-long-baseline interferometry observations of the radio-loud broad absorption line (BAL) quasar J1020+4320 at 1.7, 2.3, 6.7, and 8.4 GHz using the Japanese VLBI network (JVN) and European VLBI network (EVN). The radio morphology is compact with a size of ~10 pc. The convex radio spectrum is stable over the last decade; an observed peak frequency of 3.2 GHz is equivalent to 9.5 GHz in the rest frame, suggesting an age of the order of ~100 years as a radio source, according to an observed correlation between linear size and peak frequency of compact steep spectrum (CSS) an…
PG 1553+113 is the first blazar showing an approximately two-year quasi-periodic pattern in its gamma-ray light curve. Such quasi-periodicity might have a geometrical origin, possibly related to the precessing nature of the jet, or could be intrinsic to the source and related to pulsational accretion flow instabilities. By means of a ~2yr very long baseline array (VLBA) monitoring at 15, 24, and 43 GHz we investigate the source pc-scale properties during an entire cycle of gamma-ray activity in the period 2015-2017. In contrast to the well-defined periodicity in the gamma-ray emission, at radi…
We performed multi-frequency studies on the gigahertz-peaked spectrum high-redshift quasar 0858-279. Initially, the source presented itself in the early VLBI images as a very peculiar resolved blob. We observed the quasar with the VLBA at 1.4-24 GHz in a dual-polarization mode. The high spatial resolution and the spectral index maps enabled us to resolve the core-jet structure and locate a weak and compact core by its inverted spectrum. The dominant jet component 20 parsecs away from the core was optically thin above 10 GHz and opaque below it. We also estimated an uncommonly strong magnetic f…
SKA-VLBI Probes of High-energy Emission Processes in Relativistic Jets
University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学）；University of Bristol（布里斯托大学）；Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy（马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所）；Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC（甚长基线干涉测量联合研究所）；University of Turku（图尔库大学）；Aalto University（阿尔托大学）
The Seyfert galaxy NGC 5515 has double-peaked narrow-line emission in its optical spectrum, and it has been suggested that this could indicate that it has two active nuclei. We observed the source with high resolution Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at two radio frequencies, reduced archival Very Large Array data, and re-analysed its optical spectrum. We detected a single, compact radio source at the position of NGC 5515, with no additional radio emission in its vicinity. The optical spectrum of the source shows that the blue and red components of the double-peaked lines have very sim…
Jets of high-redshift active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can be used to directly probe the activity of the black holes in the early Universe. Radio sources with jets misaligned with respect to the line of sight are expected to dominate the high-redshift AGN population. In this paper, we present the high-resolution imaging results of a z=4.57 AGN J2102+6015 by analyzing its multi-epoch dual-frequency very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) data. The 8.4-GHz VLBI images reveal two major features along the east-west direction separated by $\sim$ 10 milli-arcsec (mas). From the spectral index map, bot…
We present the first very-long-baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations of the blazar OJ287 carried out jointly with the Global Millimeter VLBI Array (GMVA) and the phased Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 3.5 mm on April 2, 2017. Participation of phased-ALMA not only has improved the GMVA north-south resolution by a factor of ~3, but also has enabled fringe detection with signal-to-noise ratios up to 300 at baselines longer than 2 Gλ. The high sensitivity has motivated us to image the data with the newly developed regularized maximum likelihood imaging methods, reveal…
We present analysis of 25 years' worth of archival VLA, VLBA and EVN observations of the X-ray binary Cygnus X-3. From this, we deduce the source proper motion, allowing us to predict the location of the central binary system at any given time. However, the line of sight is too scatter-broadened for us to measure a parallactic distance to the source. The measured proper motion allows us to constrain the three-dimensional space velocity of the system, implying a minimum peculiar velocity of 9 km/s. Reinterpreting VLBI images from the literature using accurate core positions shows the jet orient…
We try to propose a tentative relativistic jet model for explaining the entire radio-optical phenomena observed in blazar OJ287, which has been observed quasi-periodically with a cycle of about 12yr in its optical light curve. We investigate the currently available theoretical and observational studies on the phenomena observed in OJ287 and try to find clues to its double-jet structure. It is found that the kinematic features of its superluminal components observed at 43GHz and 15GHz could be well interpreted in terms of a precessing double-jet nozzle model. And the light curves of a few optic…
Blazars are usually classified following their synchrotron peak frequency ($νF(ν)$ scale) as high, intermediate, low frequency peaked BL Lacs (HBLs, IBLs, LBLs), and flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), or, according to their radio morphology at large scale, FR~I or FR~II. However, the diversity of blazars is such that these classes seem insufficient to chart the specific properties of each source. We propose to classify a wide sample of blazars following the kinematic features of their radio jets seen in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). For this purpose we use public data from the MO…
Recently a population of compact radio galaxies were classified as Fanaroff-Riley type 0 radio galaxies (FR 0s). The physical nature of FR 0s and the connection with the classical FR I and II galaxies are not currently well understood. Here, we report the radio properties of fourteen FR 0s on parsec (pc) scales derived from their very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) imaging observations. All sources show compact structures. Four sources show relativistic beaming with Doppler boosting factors ranging from 1.7 to 6. The brightness temperatures of the other ten are below the equilibrium limit…
We present time-resolved optical spectroscopy of the counterpart to the high-inclination black hole low-mass X-ray binary Swift J1357.2-0933 in quiescence. Absorption features from the mass donor star were not detected. Instead the spectra display prominent broad double-peaked Halpha emission and weaker HeI emission lines. From the Halpha peak-to-peak separation we constrain the radial velocity semi-amplitude of the donor star to > 789 km/s. Further analysis through radial velocity and equivalent width measurements indicates that the Halpha line is free of variability due to S-wave components …
We have analyzed the parsec-scale jet kinematics of 447 bright radio-loud AGN, based on 15 GHz VLBA data obtained between 1994 August 31 and 2019 August 4. We present new total intensity and linear polarization maps obtained between 2017 January 1 to 2019 August 4 for 143 of these AGN. We tracked 1923 bright features for five or more epochs in 419 jets. A majority (60%) of the well-sampled jet features show either accelerated or non-radial motion. In 47 jets there is at least one non-accelerating feature with an unusually slow apparent speed. Most of the jets show variations of 10 to 50 deg in…
Ap Lib is one of the rare Low Synchrotron Peaked blazars detected so far at TeV energies. This type of source is not properly modelled by standard one-zone leptonic Synchrotron-self-Compton (SSC) emission scenarios. The aim of this paper is to study the relevance of additional components which should naturally occur in a SSC scenario for a better understanding of the emission mechanisms, especially at very high energies (VHE). Methods. We use simultaneous data from a multi-wavelength campaign of Planck, Swift-UVOT and Swift-XRT telescopes carried out in February 2010, as well as quasi-simultan…
We have observed the Virgo Cluster spiral galaxy, NGC~4845, at 1.6 and 6 GHz using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, as part of the `Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies -- an EVLA Survey' (CHANG-ES). The source consists of a bright unresolved core with a surrounding weak central disk (1.8 kpc diameter). The core is variable over the 6 month time scale of the CHANG-ES data and has increased by a factor of $\approx$ 6 since 1995. The wide bandwidths of CHANG-ES have allowed us to determine the spectral evolution of this core which peaks {\it between} 1.6 and 6 GHz (it is a GigaHertz-peaked spe…
Disc accretion on to a black hole is often misaligned from its spin axis. If the disc maintains a significant magnetic field normal to its local plane, we show that dipole radiation from Lense-Thirring precessing disc annuli can extract a significant fraction of the accretion energy, sharply peaked towards small disc radii $R$ (as $R^{-17/2}$ for fields with constant equipartition ratio). This low-frequency emission is immediately absorbed by surrounding matter or refracted towards the regions of lowest density. The resultant mechanical pressure, dipole angular pattern, and much lower matter d…
BL Lacertae is the prototype of the BL Lac class of active galactic nuclei, exhibiting intensive activity on parsec (pc) scales, such as intense core variability and multiple ejections of jet components. In particular, in previous works the existence of precession motions in the pc-scale jet of BL Lacertae has been suggested. In this work we revisit this issue, investigating temporal changes of the observed right ascension and declination offsets of the jet knots in terms of our relativistic jet-precession model. The seven free parameters of our precession model were optimized via a heuristic …
The common observations of multiple radio VLBI stationary knots in high-frequency-peaked BL Lacs (HBLs) can be interpreted as multiple recollimation shocks accelerating particles along jets. This approach can resolve the so-called "bulk Lorentz factor crisis" of sources with high Lorentz factor, deduced from maximum gamma-gamma opacity and fast variability, and apparently inconsistent slow/stationary radio knots. It also suggests that a unique pattern of the non-thermal emission variability should appear after each strong flare. Taking advantage of the 13 years of observation of the HBL Mrk 42…
(See the complete and formatted abstract in the paper). We report on VLBI monitoring of the low-luminosity AGN (LLAGN) in M81 at 1.7, 2.3, 5, and 8.4GHz. These observations are phase-referenced to the supernova SN1993J (located in the same galaxy) and cover from late 1993 to late 2005. The source consists at all frequencies of a slightly resolved core and a small jet extension towards the north-east direction (position angle of ~65 degrees) in agreement with previous publications. We find that the position of the intensity peak in the images at 8.4GHz is very stable in the galactic frame of M8…
