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We present 88 multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) images (most at an observing frequency of 8 GHz) of 20 TeV blazars, all of the high-frequency-peaked BL Lac (HBL) class, that have not been previously studied at multiple epochs on the parsec scale. From these 20 sources, we analyze the apparent speeds of 43 jet components that are all detected at four or more epochs. As has been found for other TeV HBLs, the apparent speeds of these components are relatively slow. About two-thirds of the components have an apparent speed that is consistent (within 2σ) with no motion, and some of these components may be stationary patterns whose apparent speed does not relate to the underlying bulk flow speed. In addition, a superluminal tail to the apparent speed distribution of the TeV HBLs is detected for the first time, with eight components in seven sources having a 2σ lower limit on the apparent speed exceeding . We combine the data from these 20 sources with an additional 18 sources from the literature to analyze the complete apparent speed distribution of all 38 TeV HBLs that have been studied with very long baseline interferometry at multiple epochs. The highest 2σ apparent speed lower limit considering all sources is . This suggests that bulk Lorentz factors of up to about 4, but probably not much higher, exist in the parsec-scale radio-emitting regions of these sources, consistent with estimates obtained in the radio by other means such as brightness temperatures. This can be reconciled with the high Lorentz factors estimated from the high-energy data if the jet has velocity structures consisting of different emission regions with different Lorentz factors. In particular, we analyze the current apparent speed data for the TeV HBLs in the context of a model with a fast central spine and a slower outer layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quasi-simultaneous observations of the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar PKS 2326−502 were carried out in the γ-ray, X-ray, UV, optical, near-infrared, and radio bands. Using these observations, we are able to characterize the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the source during two flaring and one quiescent γ-ray states. These data were used to constrain one-zone leptonic models of the SEDs of each flare and investigate the physical conditions giving rise to them. While modeling one flare required only changes in the electron spectrum compared to the quiescent state, modeling the other flare required changes in both the electron spectrum and the size of the emitting region. These results are consistent with an emerging pattern of two broad classes of flaring states seen in blazars. Type 1 flares are explained by changes solely in the electron distribution, whereas type 2 flares require a change in an additional parameter. This suggests that different flares, even in the same source, may result from different physical conditions or different regions in the jet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of observations of 22 GHz H2O maser emission in NGC 6240 and M51 made with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. Two major H2O maser features and several minor features are detected toward the southern nucleus of NGC 6240. These features are redshifted by about 300 km s−1 from the galaxy’s systemic velocity and remain unresolved at the synthesized beam size. A combination of our two-epoch observations and published data reveals an apparent correlation between the strength of the maser and the 22 GHz radio continuum emission, implying that the maser excitation relates to the activity of an active galactic nucleus in the southern nucleus rather than star-forming activity. The star-forming galaxy M51 hosts H2O maser emission in the center of the galaxy; however, the origin of the maser has been an open question. We report the first detection of 22 GHz nuclear radio continuum emission in M51. The continuum emission is co-located with the maser position, which indicates that the maser arises from nuclear active galactic nucleus-activity and not from star-forming activity in the galaxy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fermi γ-ray source 1FGL J1417.7–4407 (J1417) is a compact X-ray binary with a neutron star primary and a red giant companion in a ∼5.4 days orbit. This initial conclusion, based on optical and X-ray data, was confirmed when a 2.66 ms radio pulsar was found at the same location (and with the same orbital properties) as the optical/X-ray source. However, these initial studies found conflicting evidence about the accretion state and other properties of the binary. We present new optical, radio, and X-ray observations of J1417 that allow us to better understand this unusual system. We show that one of the main pieces of evidence previously put forward for an accretion disk—the complex morphology of the persistent Hα emission line—can be better explained by the presence of a strong, magnetically driven stellar wind from the secondary and its interaction with the pulsar wind. The radio spectral index derived from VLA/ATCA observations is broadly consistent with that expected from a millisecond pulsar, further disfavoring an accretion disk scenario. X-ray observations show evidence for a double-peaked orbital light curve, similar to that observed in some redback millisecond pulsar binaries and likely due to an intrabinary shock. Refined optical light-curve fitting gives a distance of 3.1 ± 0.6 kpc, confirmed by a Gaia DR2 parallax measurement. At this distance the X-ray luminosity of J1417 is () ×1033 erg s−1, which is more luminous than all known redback systems in the rotational-powered pulsar state, perhaps due to the wind from the giant companion. The unusual phenomenology of this system and its differing evolutionary path from redback millisecond pulsar binaries points to a new eclipsing pulsar “spider” subclass that is a possible progenitor of normal field millisecond pulsar binaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centaurus A, with its gas-rich elliptical host galaxy, NGC 5128, is the nearest radio galaxy at a distance of 3.8 Mpc. Its proximity allows us to study the interaction among an active galactic nucleus, radio jets, and molecular gas in great detail. We present ALMA observations of low-J transitions of three CO isotopologues, HCN, HCO+, HNC, CN, and CCH toward the inner projected 500 pc of NGC 5128. Our observations resolve physical sizes down to 40 pc. By observing multiple chemical probes, we determine the physical and chemical conditions of the nuclear interstellar medium of NGC 5128. This region contains molecular arms associated with the dust lanes and a circumnuclear disk (CND) interior to the molecular arms. The CND is approximately 400 pc by 200 pc and appears to be chemically distinct from the molecular arms. It is dominated by dense gas tracers while the molecular arms are dominated by 12CO and its rare isotopologues. The CND has a higher temperature, elevated CN/HCN and HCN/HNC intensity ratios, and much weaker 13CO and C18O emission than the molecular arms. This suggests an influence from the AGN on the CND molecular gas. There is also absorption against the AGN with a low velocity complex near the systemic velocity and a high velocity complex shifted by about 60 km s−1. We find similar chemical properties between the CND in emission and both the low and high velocity absorption complexes, implying that both likely originate from the CND. If the HV complex does originate in the CND, then that gas would correspond to gas falling toward the supermassive black hole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The third Fermi Large Area Telescope γ-ray source catalog (3FGL) contains over 1000 objects for which there is no known counterpart at other wavelengths. The physical origin of the γ-ray emission from those objects is unknown. Such objects are commonly referred to as unassociated and mostly do not exhibit significant γ-ray flux variability. We performed a survey of all unassociated γ-ray sources found in 3FGL using the Australia Telescope Compact Array and Very Large Array in the range 4.0–10.0 GHz. We found 2097 radio candidates for association with γ-ray sources. The follow-up with very long baseline interferometry for a subset of those candidates yielded 142 new associations with active galactic nuclei that are γ-ray sources, provided alternative associations for seven objects, and improved positions for another 144 known associations to the milliarcsecond level of accuracy. In addition, for 245 unassociated γ-ray sources we did not find a single compact radio source above 2 mJy within 3σ of their γ-ray localization. A significant fraction of these empty fields, 39%, are located away from the Galactic plane. We also found 36 extended radio sources that are candidates for association with a corresponding γ-ray object, 19 of which are most likely supernova remnants or H ii regions, whereas 17 could be radio galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present further results of a search for extragalactic submillimeter H2O masers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The detection of a 321 GHz H2O maser in the nearby type 2 Seyfert galaxy, the Circinus galaxy, has previously been reported, and here the spectral analysis of four other galaxies is described. We have discovered H2O maser emission at 321 GHz toward the center of NGC 4945, a nearby type 2 Seyfert. The maser emission shows Doppler-shifted velocity features with velocity ranges similar to those of the previously reported 22 GHz H2O masers; however, the non-contemporaneous observations also show differences in velocity offsets. The subparsec-scale distribution of the 22 GHz H2O masers revealed by earlier very long baseline interferometry observations suggests that the submillimeter masers could arise in an edge-on rotating disk. The maser features remain unresolved by the synthesized beam of ∼0.″54 (∼30 pc) and are located toward the 321 GHz continuum peak within errors. A marginally detected (3σ) high-velocity feature is redshifted by 579 km with respect to the systemic velocity of the galaxy. Assuming that this feature is real and arises from a Keplerian rotating disk in this galaxy, it is located at a radius of ∼0.020 pc (∼1.5 × 105 Schwarzschild radii), which would enable molecular material closer to the central engine to be probed than the 22 GHz H2O masers. This detection confirms that submillimeter H2O masers are a potential tracer of the circumnuclear regions of active galaxies, which will benefit from higher angular resolution studies with ALMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]