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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | A69 |
| Journal | Astronomy and Astrophysics |
| Volume | 640 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 Aug 1 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Galaxies: active
- Galaxies: individual: 3C 279
- Galaxies: jets
- Techniques: interferometric
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Event Horizon Telescope imaging of the archetypal blazar 3C 279 at an extreme 20 microarcsecond resolution'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Cite this
- APA
- Standard
- Harvard
- Vancouver
- Author
- BIBTEX
- RIS
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 640, A69, 01.08.2020.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Event Horizon Telescope imaging of the archetypal blazar 3C 279 at an extreme 20 microarcsecond resolution
AU - Kim, Jae Young
AU - Krichbaum, Thomas P.
AU - Broderick, Avery E.
AU - Wielgus, Maciek
AU - Blackburn, Lindy
AU - Gómez, José L.
AU - Johnson, Michael D.
AU - Bouman, Katherine L.
AU - Chael, Andrew
AU - Akiyama, Kazunori
AU - Jorstad, Svetlana
AU - Marscher, Alan P.
AU - Issaoun, Sara
AU - Janssen, Michael
AU - Chan, Chi Kwan
AU - Savolainen, Tuomas
AU - Pesce, Dominic W.
AU - Özel, Feryal
AU - Alberdi, Antxon
AU - Alef, Walter
AU - Asada, Keiichi
AU - Azulay, Rebecca
AU - Baczko, Anne Kathrin
AU - Ball, David
AU - Baloković, Mislav
AU - Barrett, John
AU - Bintley, Dan
AU - Boland, Wilfred
AU - Bower, Geoffrey C.
AU - Bremer, Michael
AU - Brinkerink, Christiaan D.
AU - Brissenden, Roger
AU - Britzen, Silke
AU - Broguiere, Dominique
AU - Bronzwaer, Thomas
AU - Byun, Do Young
AU - Carlstrom, John E.
AU - Chatterjee, Shami
AU - Chatterjee, Koushik
AU - Chen, Ming Tang
AU - Chen, Yongjun
AU - Cho, Ilje
AU - Christian, Pierre
AU - Conway, John E.
AU - Cordes, James M.
AU - Crew, Geoffrey B.
AU - Cui, Yuzhu
AU - Davelaar, Jordy
AU - De Laurentis, Mariafelicia
AU - Deane, Roger
AU - Dempsey, Jessica
AU - Desvignes, Gregory
AU - Dexter, Jason
AU - Doeleman, Sheperd S.
AU - Eatough, Ralph P.
AU - Falcke, Heino
AU - Fish, Vincent L.
AU - Fomalont, Ed
AU - Fraga-Encinas, Raquel
AU - Friberg, Per
AU - Fromm, Christian M.
AU - Galison, Peter
AU - Gammie, Charles F.
AU - García, Roberto
AU - Gentaz, Olivier
AU - Georgiev, Boris
AU - Goddi, Ciriaco
AU - Gold, Roman
AU - Gómez-Ruiz, Arturo I.
AU - Gu, Minfeng
AU - Gurwell, Mark
AU - Hada, Kazuhiro
AU - Hecht, Michael H.
AU - Hesper, Ronald
AU - Ho, Luis C.
AU - Ho, Paul
AU - Honma, Mareki
AU - Huang, Chih Wei L.
AU - Lei, Huang
AU - Hughes, David H.
AU - Ikeda, Shiro
AU - Inoue, Makoto
AU - James, David J.
AU - Jannuzi, Buell T.
AU - Jeter, Britton
AU - Wu, Jiang
AU - Jimenez-Rosales, Alejandra
AU - Jung, Taehyun
AU - Karami, Mansour
AU - Karuppusamy, Ramesh
AU - Kawashima, Tomohisa
AU - Keating, Garrett K.
AU - Kettenis, Mark
AU - Kim, Junhan
AU - Kim, Jongsoo
AU - Kino, Motoki
AU - Koay, Jun Yi
AU - Koch, Patrick M.
AU - Koyama, Shoko
AU - Kramer, Michael
AU - Kramer, Carsten
AU - Kuo, Cheng Yu
AU - Lauer, Tod R.
AU - Lee, Sang Sung
AU - Li, Yan Rong
AU - Li, Zhiyuan
AU - Lindqvist, Michael
AU - Lico, Rocco
AU - Kuo, Liu
AU - Liuzzo, Elisabetta
AU - Lo, Wen Ping
AU - Lobanov, Andrei P.
AU - Loinard, Laurent
AU - Lonsdale, Colin
AU - Lu, Ru Sen
AU - Macdonald, Nicholas R.
AU - Mao, Jirong
AU - Markoff, Sera
AU - Marrone, Daniel P.
AU - Martí-Vidal, Iván
AU - Matsushita, Satoki
AU - Matthews, Lynn D.
AU - Medeiros, Lia
AU - Menten, Karl M.
AU - Mizuno, Yosuke
AU - Mizuno, Izumi
AU - Moran, James M.
AU - Moriyama, Kotaro
AU - Moscibrodzka, Monika
AU - Musoke, Gibwa
AU - Müller, Cornelia
AU - Nagai, Hiroshi
AU - Nagar, Neil M.
AU - Nakamura, Masanori
AU - Narayan, Ramesh
AU - Narayanan, Gopal
AU - Natarajan, Iniyan
AU - Neri, Roberto
AU - Ni, Chunchong
AU - Noutsos, Aristeidis
AU - Okino, Hiroki
AU - Olivares, Héctor
AU - Ortiz-León, Gisela N.
AU - Oyama, Tomoaki
AU - Palumbo, Daniel C.M.
AU - Park, Jongho
AU - Patel, Nimesh
AU - Pen, Ue Li
AU - Piétu, Vincent
AU - Plambeck, Richard
AU - Popstefanija, Aleksandar
AU - Porth, Oliver
AU - Ben, Prather
AU - Preciado-López, Jorge A.
AU - Psaltis, Dimitrios
AU - Pu, Hung Yi
AU - Ramakrishnan, Venkatessh
AU - Rao, Ramprasad
AU - Rawlings, Mark G.
AU - Raymond, Alexander W.
AU - Rezzolla, Luciano
AU - Ripperda, Bart
AU - Roelofs, Freek
AU - Rogers, Alan
AU - Ros, Eduardo
AU - Rose, Mel
AU - Roshanineshat, Arash
AU - Rottmann, Helge
AU - Roy, Alan L.
AU - Ruszczyk, Chet
AU - Ryan, Benjamin R.
AU - Rygl, Kazi L.J.
AU - Sánchez, Salvador
AU - Sánchez-Arguelles, David
AU - Sasada, Mahito
AU - Schloerb, F. Peter
AU - Schuster, Karl Friedrich
AU - Shao, Lijing
AU - Shen, Zhiqiang
AU - Small, Des
AU - Sohn, Bong Won
AU - Soohoo, Jason
AU - Tazaki, Fumie
AU - Tiede, Paul
AU - Tilanus, Remo P.J.
AU - Titus, Michael
AU - Toma, Kenji
AU - Torne, Pablo
AU - Trent, Tyler
AU - Traianou, Efthalia
AU - Trippe, Sascha
AU - Tsuda, Shuichiro
AU - Van Bemmel, Ilse
AU - Van Langevelde, Huib Jan
AU - Van Rossum, Daniel R.
AU - Jan, Wagner
AU - Wardle, John
AU - Ward-Thompson, Derek
AU - Weintroub, Jonathan
AU - Wex, Norbert
AU - Wharton, Robert
AU - Wong, George N.
AU - Wu, Qingwen
AU - Yoon, Doosoo
AU - Young, André
AU - Young, Ken
AU - Younsi, Ziri
AU - Feng, Yuan
AU - Yuan, Ye Fei
AU - Zensus, J. Anton
AU - Zhao, Guangyao
AU - Zhao, Shan Shan
AU - Zhu, Ziyan
AU - Algaba, Juan Carlos
AU - Allardi, Alexander
AU - Amestica, Rodrigo
AU - Anczarski, Jadyn
AU - Bach, Uwe
AU - Baganoff, Frederick K.
AU - Beaudoin, Christopher
AU - Benson, Bradford A.
AU - Berthold, Ryan
AU - Blanchard, Jay M.
AU - Blundell, Ray
AU - Bustamente, Sandra
AU - Cappallo, Roger
AU - Castillo-Domínguez, Edgar
AU - Chang, Chih Cheng
AU - Chang, Shu Hao
AU - Chang, Song Chu
AU - Chen, Chung Chen
AU - Chilson, Ryan
AU - Chuter, Tim C.
AU - Rosado, Rodrigo Córdova
AU - Coulson, Iain M.
AU - Crowley, Joseph
AU - Derome, Mark
AU - Dexter, Matthew
AU - Dornbusch, Sven
AU - Dudevoir, Kevin A.
AU - Dzib, Sergio A.
AU - Eckart, Andreas
AU - Eckert, Chris
AU - Erickson, Neal R.
AU - Everett, Wendeline B.
AU - Faber, Aaron
AU - Farah, Joseph R.
AU - Fath, Vernon
AU - Folkers, Thomas W.
AU - Forbes, David C.
AU - Freund, Robert
AU - Gale, David M.
AU - Feng, Gao
AU - Geertsema, Gertie
AU - Graham, David A.
AU - Greer, Christopher H.
AU - Grosslein, Ronald
AU - Gueth, Frédéric
AU - Haggard, Daryl
AU - Halverson, Nils W.
AU - Han, Chih Chiang
AU - Han, Kuo Chang
AU - Hao, Jinchi
AU - Hasegawa, Yutaka
AU - Henning, Jason W.
AU - Hernández-Gómez, Antonio
AU - Herrero-Illana, Rubén
AU - Heyminck, Stefan
AU - Hirota, Akihiko
AU - Hoge, James
AU - Huang, Yau De
AU - Violette Impellizzeri, C. M.
AU - Jiang, Homin
AU - John, David
AU - Kamble, Atish
AU - Keisler, Ryan
AU - Kimura, Kimihiro
AU - Kono, Yusuke
AU - Kubo, Derek
AU - Kuroda, John
AU - Lacasse, Richard
AU - Laing, Robert A.
AU - Leitch, Erik M.
AU - Li, Chao Te
AU - Lin, Lupin C.C.
AU - Liu, Ching Tang
AU - Liu, Kuan Yu
AU - Lu, Li Ming
AU - Marson, Ralph G.
AU - Martin-Cocher, Pierre L.
AU - Massingill, Kyle D.
AU - Matulonis, Callie
AU - Mccoll, Martin P.
AU - Mcwhirter, Stephen R.
AU - Messias, Hugo
AU - Zheng, Meyer Zhao
AU - Michalik, Daniel
AU - Montaña, Alfredo
AU - Montgomerie, William
AU - Mora-Klein, Matias
AU - Muders, Dirk
AU - Nadolski, Andrew
AU - Navarro, Santiago
AU - Neilsen, Joseph
AU - Nguyen, Chi H.
AU - Nishioka, Hiroaki
AU - Norton, Timothy
AU - Nowak, Michael A.
AU - Nystrom, George
AU - Ogawa, Hideo
AU - Oshiro, Peter
AU - Parsons, Harriet
AU - Juan, Peñalver
AU - Phillips, Neil M.
AU - Poirier, Michael
AU - Pradel, Nicolas
AU - Primiani, Rurik A.
AU - Raffin, Philippe A.
AU - Rahlin, Alexandra S.
AU - Reiland, George
AU - Risacher, Christopher
AU - Ruiz, Ignacio
AU - Sáez-Madaín, Alejandro F.
AU - Sassella, Remi
AU - Schellart, Pim
AU - Shaw, Paul
AU - Silva, Kevin M.
AU - Shiokawa, Hotaka
AU - Smith, David R.
AU - Snow, William
AU - Souccar, Kamal
AU - Sousa, Don
AU - Sridharan, Tirupati K.
AU - Srinivasan, Ranjani
AU - Stahm, William
AU - Stark, Antony A.
AU - Story, Kyle
AU - Timmer, Sjoerd T.
AU - Vertatschitsch, Laura
AU - Walther, Craig
AU - Wei, Ta Shun
AU - Whitehorn, Nathan
AU - Whitney, Alan R.
AU - Woody, David P.
AU - Wouterloot, Jan G.A.
AU - Wright, Melvin
AU - Yamaguchi, Paul
AU - Yu, Chen Yu
AU - Zeballos, Milagros
AU - Zhang, Shuo
AU - Ziurys, Lucy
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © J.-Y. Kim et al. 2020.
PY - 2020/8/1
Y1 - 2020/8/1
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Galaxies: active
KW - Galaxies: individual: 3C 279
KW - Galaxies: jets
KW - Techniques: interferometric
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087444933&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85087444933&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/202037493
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202037493
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087444933
SN - 0004-6361
VL - 640
JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics
M1 - A69
ER -