75 research outputs found
A kinematic study of the compact jet in quasar B3 1633+382
We present a study of the motion of compact jet components in quasar B3
1633+382. Through analyzing 14 epochs of VLBI observations of three components
(B1, B2, and B3) at 22 GHz, we find two different possibilities of component
classification. Thus two corresponding kinematical models can be adopted to
explain the evolutionary track of components. One is a linear motion, while
another is a helical model. Future observations are needed to provide new
kinematical constraints for the motion of these components in this source.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures; Accepted for publication in A&
Mergers as triggers for nuclear activity : A near-IR study of the close environment of AGN in the VISTA-VIDEO survey
copyright 2014 The Authors; Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical SocietyThere is an ongoing debate concerning the driver of nuclear activity in galaxies, with active galactic nuclei (AGN) either being triggered by major or minor galactic mergers or, alternatively, through secular processes like cold gas accretion and/or formation of bars. We investigate the close environment of active galaxies selected in the X-ray, the radio and the mid-IR. We utilize the first data release of the new near-IR VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO) survey of the XMM-Large Scale Structure field. We use two measures of environment density, namely counts within a given aperture and a finite redshift slice (pseudo- 3D density) and closest neighbour density measures â2 and â5. We select both AGN and control samples, matching them in redshift and apparent Ks-band magnitude. We find that AGN are found in a range of environments, with a subset of the AGN samples residing in overdense environments. Seyfert-like X-ray AGN and flat-spectrum radio-AGN are found to inhabit significantly overdense environments compared to their control sample. The relation between overdensities and AGN luminosity does not however reveal any positive correlation. Given the absence of an environment density-AGN luminosity relation, we find no support for a scheme where high-luminosity AGN are preferentially triggered by mergers. On the contrary, we find that AGN likely trace over dense environments at high redshift due to the fact that they inhabit the most massive galaxies, rather than being an AGN.Peer reviewe
Deconstructing blazars: A different scheme for jet kinematics in flat-spectrum AGN
Recent VLBI studies of the morphology and kinematics of individual BL Lac
objects (S5 1803+784, PKS 0735+178, etc.) have revealed a new paradigm for the
pc-scale jet kinematics of these sources. Unlike the apparent superluminal
outward motions usually observed in blazars, most, if not all, jet components
in these sources appear to be stationary with respect to the core, while
exhibiting strong changes in their position angles. As a result, the jet ridge
lines of these sources evolve substantially, at times forming a wide
channel-flow. We investigate the Caltech-Jodrell Bank flat-spectrum (CJF)
sample of radio-loud active galaxies to study this new kinematic scenario for
flat-spectrum AGN. We develop a number of tools that extract information about
the apparent linear and angular evolution of the CJF jet ridge lines, as well
as their morphology. In this way, we study both radial and non-radial apparent
motions in the CJF jets. We find that approximately half of the sample shows
appreciable apparent jet widths (), with BL Lac jet ridge lines
showing significantly larger apparent widths than both quasars and radio
galaxies. In addition, BL Lac jet ridge lines are found to change their
apparent width more strongly. Finally, BL Lac jet ridge lines show the least
apparent linear evolution, which translates to the smallest apparent expansion
speeds for their components. We find compelling evidence supporting a
substantially different kinematic scenario for flat-spectrum radio-AGN jets and
in particular for BL Lac objects. In addition, we find that variability is
closely related to the properties of a source's jet ridge line. Variable
quasars are found to show "BL Lac like" behavior, compared to their
non-variable counterparts.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Flaring radio lanterns along the ridge line: Long-term oscillatory motion in the jet of S5 1803 + 784
© 2018 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. We present a detailed analysis of 30 very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations of the BL Lac object S5 1803+784 (z= 0.679), obtained between mean observational time 1994.67 and 2012.91 at observational frequency 15 GHz. The long-term behaviour of the jet ridge line reveals the jet experiences an oscillatory motion superposed on its helical jet kinematics on a time-scale of about 6 yr. The excess variance of the positional variability indicates the jet components being farther from the VLBI core have larger amplitude in their position variations. The fractional variability amplitude shows slight changes in 3 yrbins of the component's position. The temporal variability in the Doppler boosting of the ridge line results in jet regions behaving as flaring 'radio lanterns'. We offer a qualitative scenario leading to the oscillation of the jet ridge line that utilizes the orbital motion of the jet emitter black hole due to a binary black hole companion. A correlation analysis implies composite origin of the flux variability of the jet components, emerging due to possibly both the evolving jet structure and its intrinsic variability
Flaring radio lanterns along the ridge line: long-term oscillatory motion in the jet of S5 1803+784
We present a detailed analysis of 30 very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations of the BL Lac object S5 1803+784 (z= 0.679), obtained between mean observational time 1994.67 and 2012.91 at observational frequency 15 GHz. The long-term behaviour of the jet ridge line reveals the jet experiences an oscillatory motion superposed on its helical jet kinematics on a time-scale of about 6 yr. The excess variance of the positional variability indicates the jet components being farther from the VLBI core have larger amplitude in their position variations. The fractional variability amplitude shows slight changes in 3 yrbins of the component's position. The temporal variability in the Doppler boosting of the ridge line results in jet regions behaving as flaring `radio lanterns'. We offer a qualitative scenario leading to the oscillation of the jet ridge line that utilizes the orbital motion of the jet emitter black hole due to a binary black hole companion. A correlation analysis implies composite origin of the flux variability of the jet components, emerging due to possibly both the evolving jet structure and its intrinsic variability
AKARI-NEP: effects of AGN presence on SFR estimates of galaxies
How does the presence of an AGN influence the total SFR estimates of galaxies and change their distribution with respect to the Galaxy Main Sequence? To contribute to solving this question, we study a sample of 1133 sources detected in the North Ecliptic Pole field (NEP) by AKARI and Herschel. We create a multi-wavelength dataset for these galaxies and we fit their multi-wavelength Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) using the whole spectral regime (from 0.1 to 500 ”m). We perform the fit using three procedures: LePhare and two optimised codes for identifying AGN tracers from the SED analysis. In this work we present an overview of the comparison between the estimates of the Infrared bolometric luminosities (between 8 and 1000 ”m) and the AGN fractions obtained exploiting these different procedures. In particular, by estimating the AGN contribution in four different wavelength ranges (5-40 ”m, 10-20 ”m, 20-40 ”m and 8-1000 ”m) we show how the presence of an AGN affects the PAH emission by suppressing the ratio L8 ”m/ L4.5 ”m as a function of the considered wavelength range
The kinematics in the pc-scale jets of AGN The case of S5 1803+784
We present a kinematic analysis of jet component motion in the VLBI jet of
the BL Lac object S5 1803+784, which does not reveal long-term outward motion
for most of the components. Understanding the complex kinematic phenomena can
possibly provide insights into the differences between quasars and BL Lac
objects. The blazar S5 1803+784 has been studied with VLBI at =1.6, 2.3,
5, 8.4, and 15 GHz between 1993.88 and 2005.68 in 26 observing runs. We
(re)analyzed the data and present Gaussian model-fits. We collected the already
published kinematic information for this source from the literature and
re-identified the components according to the new scenario presented in this
paper. Altogether, 94 epochs of observations have been investigated. A careful
study of the long-term kinematics reveals a new picture for component motion in
S5 1803+784. In contrast to previously discussed motion scenarios, we find that
the jet structure within 12 mas of the core can most easily be described by the
coexistence of several bright jet features that remain on the long-term at
roughly constant core separations (in addition to the already known {\it
stationary} jet component 1.4 mas) and one faint component moving with
an apparent superluminal speed ( 19c, based on 3 epochs). While most of
the components maintain long-term roughly constant distances from the core, we
observe significant, smooth changes in their position angles. We report on an
evolution of the whole jet ridge line with time over the almost 12 years of
observations. The width of the jet changes periodically with a period of
8 to 9 years. We find a correlation between changes in the position angle and
maxima in the total flux-density. We present evidence for a geometric origin of
the phenomena and discuss possible models.Comment: The manuscript will be published by A&
A possible jet precession in the periodic quasar B0605-085
The quasar B0605-085 (OH 010) shows a hint for probable periodical
variability in the radio total flux-density light curves. We study the possible
periodicity of B0605-085 in the total flux-density, spectra and opacity changes
in order to compare it with jet kinematics on parsec scales. We have analyzed
archival total flux-density variability at ten frequencies (408 MHz, 4.8 GHz,
6.7 GHz, 8 GHz, 10.7 GHz, 14.5 GHz, 22 GHz, 37 GHz, 90 GHz, and 230 GHz)
together with the archival high-resolution very long baseline interferometry
data at 15 GHz from the MOJAVE monitoring campaign. Using the Fourier transform
and discrete autocorrelation methods we have searched for periods in the total
flux-density light curves. In addition, spectral evolution and changes of the
opacity have been analyzed. We found a period in multi-frequency total
flux-density light curves of 7.9+-0.5 yrs. Moreover, a quasi-stationary jet
component C1 follows a prominent helical path on a similar time scale of 8
years. We have also found that the average instantaneous speeds of the jet
components show a clear helical pattern along the jet with a characteristic
scale of 3 mas. Taking into account average speeds of jet components, this
scale corresponds to a time scale of about 7.7 years. Jet precession can
explain the helical path of the quasi-stationary jet component C1 and the
periodical modulation of the total flux-density light curves. We have fitted a
precession model to the trajectory of the jet component C1, with a viewing
angle phi=2.6+-2.2 degrees, aperture angle of the precession cone
Omega=23.9+-1.9 degrees and fixed precession period (in the observers frame) P
= 7.9 yrs.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in A&
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