Search

We present multi-epoch, parsec-scale core brightness temperature observations of 447 AGN jets from the MOJAVE and 2cm Survey programs at 15 GHz from 1994 to 2019. The brightness temperature of each jet over time is characterized by its median value and variability. We find that the range of median brightness temperatures for AGN jets in our sample is much larger than the variations within individual jets, consistent with Doppler boosting being the primary difference between the brightness temperatures of jets in their median state. We combine the observed median brightness temperatures with apparent jet speed measurements to find the typical intrinsic Gaussian brightness temperature of (4.1 +- 0.6)*10^10 K, suggesting that jet cores are at or below equipartition between particle and magnetic field energy in their median state. We use this value to derive estimates for the Doppler factor for every source in our sample. For the 309 jets with both apparent speed and brightness temperature data, we estimate their Lorentz factors and viewing angles to the line of sight. Within the BL Lac optical class, we find that high-synchrotron-peaked (HSP) BL Lacs have smaller Doppler factors, lower Lorentz factors, and larger angles to the line of sight than intermediate and low-synchrotron-peaked (LSP) BL Lacs. We confirm that AGN jets with larger Doppler factors measured in their parsec-scale radio cores are more likely to be detected in gamma rays, and we find a strong correlation between gamma-ray luminosity and Doppler factor for the detected sources., Comment: 29 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables; accepted by ApJ; full electronic tables and all Figure Set plots are available as ancillary files

We have analyzed the parsec-scale jet kinematics of 447 bright radio-loud active active galactic nuclei (AGN), based on 15 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (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 and 2019 August 4 for 143 of these AGN. We tracked 1923 bright features for five or more epochs in 419 jets. The majority (60%) of the well-sampled jet features show either accelerated or nonradial motion. In 47 jets there is at least one nonaccelerating feature with an unusually slow apparent speed. Most of the jets show variations of 10°–50° in their inner jet position angle (PA) over time, although the overall distribution has a continuous tail out to 200°. AGN with spectral energy distributions peaked at lower frequencies tend to have more variable PAs, with BL Lac objects being less variable than quasars. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) gamma-ray-associated AGN also tend to have more variable PAs than the non-LAT AGN in our sample. We attribute these trends to smaller viewing angles for the lower spectral peaked and LAT-associated jets. We identified 13 AGN where multiple features emerge over decade-long periods at systematically increasing or decreasing PAs. Since the ejected features do not fill the entire jet cross section, this behavior is indicative of a precessing flow instability near the jet base. Although some jets show indications of oscillatory PA evolution, we claim no bona fide cases of periodicity since the fitted periods are comparable to the total VLBA time coverage.

This is the second of two papers describing the observations and source catalogues derived from sensitive 3-GHz images of the Lockman Hole North using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. We describe the reduction and cataloguing process, which yielded an image with 8 arcsec resolution and instrumental noise of \sigma$_{\rm n}$=1.0 \mu Jy beam$^{-1}$ rms (before primary beam corrections) and a catalogue of 558 sources detected above 5\sigma$_{\rm n}$. We include details of how we estimate source spectral indices across the 2-GHz VLA bandwidth, finding a median index of -0.76$\pm$0.04. Stacking of source spectra reveals a flattening of spectral index with decreasing flux density. We present a source count derived from the catalogue. We show a traditional count estimate compared with a completely independent estimate made via a P(D) confusion analysis, and find very good agreement. Cross-matches of the catalogue with X-ray, optical, infrared, radio, and redshift catalogues are also presented. The X-ray, optical and infrared data, as well as AGN selection criteria allow us to classify 10 per cent as radio-loud AGN, 28 percent as radio-quiet AGN, and 58 per cent as star-forming galaxies, with only 4 per cent unclassified.

Inverse Compton cooling limits the brightness temperature of the radiating plasma to a maximum of $10^{11.5}$ K. Relativistic boosting can increase its observed value, but apparent brightness temperatures much in excess of $10^{13}$ K are inaccessible using ground-based very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) at any wavelength. We present observations of the quasar 3C273, made with the space VLBI mission RadioAstron on baselines up to 171,000 km, which directly reveal the presence of angular structure as small as 26 $\mu$as (2.7 light months) and brightness temperature in excess of $10^{13}$ K. These measurements challenge our understanding of the non-thermal continuum emission in the vicinity of supermassive black holes and require a much higher Doppler factor than what is determined from jet apparent kinematics., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table; accepted by the Astrophysical Journal Letters

In order to trace the instantaneous star formation rate at high redshift, and hence help understanding the relation between the different emission mechanisms related to star formation, we combine the recent 4 Ms Chandra X-ray data and the deep VLA radio data in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South region. We find 268 sources detected both in the X-ray and radio band. The availability of redshifts for $\sim 95$ of the sources in our sample allows us to derive reliable luminosity estimates and the intrinsic properties from X-ray analysis for the majority of the objects. With the aim of selecting sources powered by star formation in both bands, we adopt classification criteria based on X-ray and radio data, exploiting the X-ray spectral features and time variability, taking advantage of observations scattered across more than ten years. We identify 43 objects consistent with being powered by star formation. We also add another 111 and 70 star forming candidates detected only in the radio or X-ray band, respectively. We find a clear linear correlation between radio and X-ray luminosity in star forming galaxies over three orders of magnitude and up to $z \sim 1.5$. We also measure a significant scatter of the order of 0.4 dex, higher than that observed at low redshift, implying an intrinsic scatter component. The correlation is consistent with that measured locally, and no evolution with redshift is observed. Using a locally calibrated relation between the SFR and the radio luminosity, we investigate the L_X(2-10keV)-SFR relation at high redshift. The comparison of the star formation rate measured in our sample with some theoretical models for the Milky Way and M31, two typical spiral galaxies, indicates that, with current data, we can trace typical spirals only at z

Radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs), hosting powerful relativistic jet outflows, provide an excellent laboratory for studying jet physics. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) enables high-resolution imaging on milli-arcsecond (mas) and sub-mas scales, making it a powerful tool to explore the inner jet structure, shedding light on the formation, acceleration, and collimation of AGN jets. In this paper, we present Very Long Baseline Array observations of 10 radio-loud AGNs at 43 and 86 GHz that were selected from the Planck catalog of compact sources and are among the brightest in published VLBI images at and below 15 GHz. The image noise levels in our observations are typically 0.3 and 1.5 mJy beam -1 at 43 and 86 GHz, respectively. Compared with the VLBI data observed at lower frequencies from the literature, our observations with higher resolutions (with the highest resolution being up to 0.07 mas at 86 GHz and 0.18 mas at 43 GHz) and at higher frequencies detected new jet components at sub-parsec scales, offering valuable data for studies of the physical properties of the innermost jets. These include the compactness factor of the radio structure (the ratio of core flux density to total flux density), and core brightness temperature (T b ). In all these sources, the compact core accounts for a significant fraction ( > 60%) of the total flux density. Their correlated flux density at the longest baselines is higher than 0.16 Jy. The compactness of these sources make them good phase calibrators of millimeter-wavelength ground-based and space VLBI.

We discuss acceleration measurements for a large sample of extragalactic radio jets from the Monitoring Of Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei with VLBA Experiments (MOJAVE) program, which studies the parsec-scale jet structure and kinematics of a complete, flux-density-limited sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Accelerations are measured from the apparent motion of individual jet features or 'components' which may represent patterns in the jet flow. We find that significant accelerations are common both parallel and perpendicular to the observed component velocities. Parallel accelerations, representing changes in apparent speed, are generally larger than perpendicular acceleration that represent changes in apparent direction. The trend for larger parallel accelerations indicates that a significant fraction of these changes in apparent speed are due to changes in intrinsic speed of the component rather than changes in direction to the line of sight. We find an overall tendency for components with increasing apparent speed to be closer to the base of their jets than components with decreasing apparent speed. This suggests a link between the observed pattern motions and the underlying flow which, in some cases, may increase in speed close to the base and decrease in speed further out; however, common hydrodynamical processes for propagatingmore » shocks may also play a role. About half of the components show 'non-radial' motion, or a misalignment between the component's structural position angle and its velocity direction, and these misalignments generally better align the component motion with the downstream emission. Perpendicular accelerations are closely linked with non-radial motion. When observed together, perpendicular accelerations are usually in the correct direction to have caused the observed misalignment.« less

We have compared the radio emission from a sample of parsec-scale AGN jets as measured by the VLBA at 15 GHz, with their associated gamma-ray properties that are reported in the Fermi LAT 3-month bright source list. We find in our radio-selected sample that the gamma-ray photon flux correlates well with the quasi-simultaneously measured compact radio flux density. The LAT-detected jets in our radio-selected complete sample generally have higher compact radio flux densities, and their parsec-scale cores are brighter (i.e., have higher brightness temperature) than the jets in the LAT non-detected objects. This suggests that the jets of bright gamma-ray AGN have preferentially higher Doppler-boosting factors. In addition, AGN jets tend to be found in a more active radio state within several months from LAT-detection of their strong gamma-ray emission. This result becomes more pronounced for confirmed gamma-ray flaring sources. We identify the parsec-scale radio core as a likely location for both the gamma-ray and radio flares, which appear within typical timescales of up to a few months of each other., 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters; title is changed, minor corrections of the text are made

We present a detailed analysis of 256 radio sources from our deep (flux density limit of 42 microJy at the field centre at 1.4 GHz) Chandra Deep Field South 1.4 and 5 GHz VLA survey. The radio population is studied by using a wealth of multi-wavelength information in the radio, optical, and X-ray bands. The availability of redshifts for ~ 80% of the sources in our complete sample allows us to derive reliable luminosity estimates for the majority of the objects. X-ray data, including upper limits, for all our sources turn out to be a key factor in establishing the nature of faint radio sources. Due to the faint optical levels probed by this study, we have uncovered a population of distant Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) systematically missing from many previous studies of sub-millijansky radio source identifications. We find that, while the well-known flattening of the radio number counts below 1 mJy is mostly due to star forming galaxies, these sources and AGN make up an approximately equal fraction of the sub-millijansky sky, contrary to some previous results. The AGN include radio galaxies, mostly of the low-power, Fanaroff-Riley I type, and a significant radio-quiet component, which amounts to approximately one fifth of the total sample. The ratio of radio to optical luminosity depends more on radio luminosity, rather than being due to optical absorption.

We present the optical and infrared identifications of the 266 radio sources detected at 20 cm with the Very Large Array in the Chandra Deep Field South (Kellermann et al. 2008). Using deep i-band Advanced Camera for Surveys, R-band Wide Field Imager, K-band SOFI/NTT, K-band ISAAC/VLT and Spitzer imaging data, we are able to find reliable counterparts for 254 (~95%) VLA sources. Twelve radio sources remain unidentified and three of them are ``empty fields''. Using literature and our own data we are able to assign redshifts to 186 (~70%) radio sources: 108 are spectroscopic redshifts and 78 reliable photometric redshifts. Based on the rest frame colors and morphological distributions of the host galaxies we find evidences for a change in the submillijansky radio source population: a) above ~ 0.08 mJy early-type galaxies are dominating; b) at flux densities below ~0.08 mJy, starburst galaxies become dominant., To appear in ApJS, 50 pages with 15 figures, an ASCII varsion of Table 3 and a version with higher resolution figures are available at http://taltos.pha.jhu.edu/~nmiller/vlaecdfs_main.html

We report new 2 cm VLBA images of the inner radio jet of M87 showing a limb brightened structure and unambiguous evidence for a faint 3 mas long counter-feature which also appears limb brightened. Multi-epoch observations of seven separate jet features show typical speeds of less than a few percent of the speed of light, despite the highly asymmetric jet structure and the implications of the canonical relativistic beaming scenario. The observed morphology is consistent with a two stream spine-sheath velocity gradient across the jet, as might be expected from the recently discovered strong and variable TeV emission as well as from numerical modeling of relativistic jets. Considering the large jet to counter-jet flux density ratio and lack of observed fast motion in the jet, we conclude that either the inner part of the M87 jet is intrinsically asymmetric or that the bulk plasma flow speed is much greater than any propagation of shocks or other pattern motions.

Eighteen days of MERLIN data and 42 hours of A-array VLA data at 1.4 GHz have been combined to image a 10-arcmin field centred on the Hubble Deep and Flanking Fields (HDF and HFF). A complete sample of 92 radio sources with 1.4-GHz flux densities above 40 microJy has been imaged using MERLIN+VLA. The images are amongst the most sensitive yet made at 1.4 GHz, with rms noise levels of 3.3 microJy/beam in the 0.2-arcsec images. Virtually all the sources are resolved, with angular sizes in the range 0.2 to 3 arcsec. No additional sources were detected down to 23 microJy in the central 3 arcmin, indicating that sources fainter than 40 microJy are heavily resolved with MERLIN and must have typical angular sizes greater than 0.5 arcsec. Compact radio sources were used to align the optical data to the ICRF, to, Accepted by MNRAS Jan 2005 34 pp with inline b/w figures plus 9 pp of colour figures All material is available from http://www.merlin.ac.uk/HDF/ as gzipped PDFs. ME547.pdf.gz - main paper ME547_Appendix_C1.pdf.gz, ME547_Appendix_C2.pdf.gz - colour figures All figures are also available in png form

We analyze the Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample of QSOs in terms of space density, including the redshift distribution, the radio luminosity function, and the evidence for a redshift cutoff. With regard to the luminosity function, we note the strong evolution in space density from the present day to epochs corresponding to redshifts ∼1. We draw attention to a selection effect due to spread in spectral shape that may have misled other investigators to consider the apparent similarities in shape of luminosity functions in different redshift shells as evidence for luminosity evolution. To examine the evolution at redshifts beyond 3, we develop a model-independent method based on the Vmax test using each object to predict expectation densities beyond z = 3. With this we show that a diminution in space density at z > 3 is present at a significance level >4σ. We identify a severe bias in such determinations from using flux-density measurements at epochs significantly later than that of the finding survey. The form of the diminution is estimated, and is shown to be very similar to that found for QSOs selected in X-ray and optical wavebands. The diminution is also compared with the current estimates of star-formation evolution, with less conclusive results. In summary we suggest that the reionization epoch is little influenced by powerful flat-spectrum QSOs, and that dust obscuration does not play a major role in our view of the QSO population selected at radio, optical or X-ray wavelengths. © ESO 2005.

Deep VLT optical spectroscopy, HST+ACS (GOODS) imaging and VLA observations are used to unveil the nature of a complete sample of 47 EROs with R-Ks>5 and Ks, 5 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters

We present optical spectra and redshift measurements for 178 flat-spectrum objects from the Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample. These spectra were obtained in order to compile a complete sample of quasars for use in a study of quasar evolution. We present a composite optical spectrum made from the subset of 109 quasars that have flux densities in the range 0.25Jy < S(2.7GHz)< 0.5Jy, and make a comparison with a composite for radio-quiet QSOs from the Large Bright Quasar Survey. Our large sample of radio-loud quasars allows us to strengthen previous reports that the Ly-alpha and CIV emission lines have larger equivalent width in radio-loud quasars than radio-quiet QSOs to greater than the 3-sigma level. However we see no significant difference in the equivalent widths of CIII] or MgII. We also show that the flux decrements across the Lyman-alpha line (D_A) measured from these spectra show the same trend with redshift as for optically selected QSOs., 20 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

This is a paper on young jet material in a frustratingly complex environment. NGC 1052 has a compact, flat- or GHz-peaked-spectrum radio nucleus consisting of bi-symmetric jets, oriented close to the plane of the sky. Many features on both sides move away at v_app~0.26c (H_0=65 km/s/Mpc). VLBI at seven frequencies shows a wide range of spectral shapes and brightness temperatures; there is clearly free-free absorption, probably together with synchrotron self-absorption, on both sides of the core. The absorbing structure is likely to be geometrically thick and oriented roughly orthogonal to the jets, but it is patchy. HI VLBI shows atomic gas in front of the approaching as well as the receding jet. There appear to be three velocity systems, at least two of which are local to the AGN environment. The "high velocity system", 125 to 200 km/s redward of systemic, seems restricted to a shell 1 to 2 pc away from the core. Closer to the centre, this gas might be largely ionised; it could cause the free-free absorption. WSRT spectroscopy shows 1667 and 1665 MHz OH absorption over a wide velocity range. OH and HI profile similarity suggests co-location of molecular and atomic ``high velocity'' gas; the connection to H2O masing gas is unclear. Further, at ``high velocity'' we detected the OH 1612 MHz satellite line in absorption and the 1720 MHz line in emission, with complementary strengths., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, prepared in LaTeX. Revised version, will appear in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, as part of the proceedings of the 3rd GPS/CSS workshop, ed. T. Tzioumis, W. de Vries, I. Snellen, A. Koekemoer

We report further results from our imaging survey at 15GHz (lambda=2 cm) with the Very Long Baseline Array. This paper presents single epoch images for 39 sources, bringing the total number of objects in the sample to 171. Our sample is representative of a complete unbiased sample and it will be used for statistical analysis of source properties. We compare the observed brightness temperatures derived from our VLBA observations to those derived from total intensity variations at 22 and 37 GHz. These are consistent with intrinsic brightness temperatures in the range 10^10 to 10^12 K. We also present three new spectroscopic redshift values: z=0.517+/-0.001 for 0026+346, z=1.591+/-0.003 for 0727-115, and z=0.2016+/-0.0004 for 1155+251. Images from this VLBA 2 cm survey are available on the Internet under http://www.cv.nrao.edu/2cmsurvey., 21 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables, 1 appendix. Accepted for publication (August 2002 issue) at The Astronomical Journal. Needs aastex.cls, amsfonts.sty, amssymb.sty, apj.bst, natbib.sty

We present the results from two radio integrations at 8.4 GHz using the VLA. One of the fields, at 13h,+43d (SA13 field), has an rms noise level of 1.49 microJy and is the deepest radio image yet made. Thirty-four sources in a complete sample were detected above 7.5 microJy and 25 are optically identified to a limit of I=25.8, using our deep HST and ground-based images. The radio sources are usually located within 0.5" (typically 5 kpc) of a galaxy nucleus, and generally have a diameter less than 2.5". The second field at 17h, +50d (Hercules Field) has an rms noise of 35 microJy and contains 10 sources. We have also analyzed a complete flux density-limited sample at 8.4 GHz of 89 sources from five deep radio surveys, including the Hubble deep field. Half of all the optical counterparts are with galaxies brighter than I=23 mag, but 20% are fainter than I=25.5 mag. We confirm the tendency for the micro-Jansky radio sources to prefer multi-galaxy systems. The distribution of the radio spectral index between 1.4 and 8.4 GHz peaks at alpha = -0.75~ with a median value of -0.6. The average spectral index becomes steeper (lower values) for sources below 35 microJy, and for sources identified with optical counterparts fainter than I=25.5 mag. The differential radio count between 7.5 and 1000 microJy has a slope of -2.11 +/-0.13 and a surface density of 0.64 sources per square-arcmin with flux density greater than $7.5 microJy.

We discuss the observational and theoretical constraints on the brightness temperature of compact opaque synchrotron sources. We consider the implication of observed apparent velocities on the amount of Doppler boosting and compare this with values deduced from directly measured brightness temperatures from ground and space based VLBI observations, as well as the implications of intraday variability. We also discuss the maximum rest frame brightness temperature expected under conditions of both inverse Compton cooling and equipartition conditions.

We discuss the X-ray properties of the radio sources detected in a deep 1.4 and 5 GHz VLA Radio survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (E-CDFS). Among the 266 radio sources detected, we find 89 sources (1/3 of the total) with X-ray counterparts in the catalog of the 1Ms exposure of the central 0.08 deg^2 (Giacconi et al. 2002; Alexander et al. 2003) or in the catalog of the 250 ks exposure of the 0.3 deg^2 E-CDFS field (Lehmer et al. 2005). For 76 (85%) of these sources we have spectroscopic or photometric redshifts, and therefore we are able to derive their intrinsic properties from X-ray spectral analysis, namely intrinsic absorption and total X-ray luminosities. We find that the population of submillijansky radio sources with X-ray counterparts is composed of a mix of roughly 1/3 star forming galaxies and 2/3 AGN. The distribution of intrinsic absorption among X-ray detected radio sources is different from that of the X-ray selected sample. Namely, the fraction of low absorption sources is at least two times larger than that of X-ray selected sources in the CDFS. This is mostly due to the larger fraction of star forming galaxies present among the X-ray detected radio sources. If we investigate the distribution of intrinsic absorption among sources with L_X>10^42 erg s^-1 in the hard 2-10 keV band (therefore in the AGN luminosity regime), we find agreement between the X-ray population with and without radio emission. In general, radio detected X-ray AGN are not more heavily obscured than the non radio detected AGN. This argues against the use of radio surveys as an efficient way to search for the missing population of strongly absorbed AGN., 56 pages, 16 figures, ApJ in press

The RadioAstron project is an international collaborative mission centred around the Spektr-R satellite, which was launched in July 2011, carrying a 10-m space radio telescope (SRT) into an elliptical Earth orbit. The aim of the mission is to use the space telescope for radio astronomical observations using Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) techniques in conjunction with ground-based VLBI networks located in Australia, China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, and the USA. The orbit of the RadioAstron satellite evolves with time and has an apogee between 280,000 and 350,000 km, a perigee between 1,500 and 80,000 km, a period of 8 to 9 days, and an initial inclination of 51 degrees. RadioAstron operates at the standard radio astronomical wavelengths of 1.19–1.63 cm (K-band), 6.2 cm (C-band), 18 cm (L-band), and 92 cm (P-band). The space to ground VLBI observations using RadioAstron are providing morphological information on galactic and extragalactic radio sources with fringe size as small as 7 microarcseconds at the highest frequency. This is the highest angular resolution ever achieved by any astronomical instrument. The RadioAstron mission began with an In-Orbit-Checkout (IOC) commissioning period. The first part of the IOC included an engineering commissioning with a spacecraft bus checkout, the unfolding of the space radio telescope, receiver checks and tests of the radio astronomy antenna in single-dish mode (bore-sighting), and communication tests with the tracking stations. The second part of the IOC was a scientific commissioning phase that consisted of VLBI tests using the space radio telescope science payload in conjunction with a number of large ground radio telescopes. Fringes were found at all four bands of 92, 18, 6, and 1.3 cm. This IOC phase smoothly transitioned into a scientific verification phase — the Early Science Program (ESP) — in February 2012, continuing to June 2013. The ESP objectives were designed to provide a bridge between the initial “experimental” mode of operations, observing, and data processing, and the “routine” operations that started after completion of the ESP. Observing time with the RadioAstron was committed for ESP observations, and these were coordinated by Working Groups on Active Galactic Nuclei, masers, and pulsars. The RadioAstron mission has subsequently released two Announcements of Opportunity soliciting proposals from the international astronomy community. The AO-1 period runs from July 2013 to June 2014, with the AO-2 period starting in July 2014 and running for one year. The AO-1 period focused on seven Key Science Projects, designed to optimize the science return from a time-limited mission: the AO-2 period has additionally been opened to smaller Guest Observing Time proposals. This presentation will outline the elements of the RadioAstron project — satellite, tracking stations, ground radio telescopes, orbit determination, and correlators. It will describe a number of key results obtained to date. This includes the measurements of very high AGN brightness temperatures which strain conventional models of synchrotron radiation and Doppler boosting, and the detection of quasars, pulsars and masers large projected spacings up to more than 250,000 km. A particularly surprising result has been the unexpected detection of 92 cm fringes from the pulsar B0950+08 at spacings up to 220,000 km with unanticipated important implications for the nature of plasma inhomogeneities and turbulence in the interstellar medium. The RadioAstron project is led by the Astro Space Center of the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Lavochkin Scientific and Production Association under a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency, in collaboration with partner organizations in Russia and other countries.

The VLBA has been used over a period of four years to study the internal motions within a sample of quasars and AGN. In most sources, features appear to propagate away from the central engine along a well collimated radio jet with apparent transverse velocities between zero and 10c, with some evidence for apparent accelerations and decelerations. The distribution of apparent velocity is not consistent with any simple ballistic model and appears to require either a spread in intrinsic velocity or a difference between the bulk velocity and pattern velocity. The dependence of apparent angular velocity with redshift is consistent with standard Friedmann world models. Further observations of a larger source sample, especially at large redshift may lead to meaningful constraints on world models.

The gigahertz peaked spectrum (GPS) radio source CTD 93 has long been considered the prototypical compact double radio source described by a simple two-component structure. We have used the NRAO VLBA to observe CTD 93 at 2, 3.6, 6, 13, 18, and 50 cm in order to determine the structure of the two predominant components and to search for a possible central component. We find that the observed structure is characteristic of the core-jet structure commonly seen in other quasars and active galactic nuclei rather than a symmetric double. The northern core component has a complex structure dominated by a wide-angle extension pointing toward the southwest. The jet reappears about 25 mas away, where it appears remarkably well collimated. At a distance of 50 mas from the northern feature the jet reaches a hot spot where it abruptly turns toward the southeast. Comparison with earlier observations of CTD 93 indicates no changes in the separation of the two brightest features greater than 0.025 mas yr-1 (0.5 h-1 c). We suggest that it may be premature to consider GPS radio sources to be necessarily associated with symmetric radio structure. The observed sharp low-frequency cutoff is most likely due to synchrotron self-absorption, but we cannot rule out the possibility that there is also absorption from an intervening ionized medium or from ionized material that is mixed with the synchrotron source. The absence of observed superluminal motion over a time span of 20 years, the lack of flux density variability, and the sharply peaked spectrum suggest that the direction of the jet in CTD 93 lies close to the plane of the sky and/or that any motion is nonrelativistic.

We have used the NRAO Very Long Baseline Array to image the nucleus of NGC 1275 (3C 84) at frequencies of 15 and 43 GHz, with an angular resolution of about 0.6 and 0.15 mas, respectively. On scales of 0.05-5 pc (0.15-15 mas), the previously identified regions of radio emission are seen with unprecedented clarity: a bright and complex central core, a southern cocoon-like "expanding bubble," a faint, thin jet connecting the core to the bubble, and an inverted spectrum northern "counterfeature." The inner 0.5 pc of the core has bright knots of emission located along a line with multiple sharp bends, as if sprayed from a precessing nozzle with a full opening angle of ~40°. These knots move at 0.05c, 0.08c, and 0.2c (±0.03c), for components at increasing distances from the core, indicative of acceleration along the jet. However, there are rapid and progressive flux changes in the slow-moving knots, corresponding to a phase velocity of ~0.9c±0.1c.

We have used the VLBA at 15 GHz to image the structure of 132 strong compact AGN and quasars with a resolution better than one milliarcsecond and a dynamic range typically exceeding 1000 to 1. These observations were made as part of a program to investigate the sub-parsec structure of quasars and AGN and to study the changes in their structure with time. Many of the sources included in our study, particularly those located south of +35 degrees, have not been previously imaged with milliarcsecond resolution. Each of the sources has been observed at multiple epochs. In this paper we show images of each of the 132 sources which we have observed. For each source we present data at the epoch which had the best quality data. The milliarcsecond jets generally appear one-sided but two-sided structure is often found in lower luminosity radio galaxies and in high luminosity quasars with gigahertz peaked spectra. Usually the structure is unresolved along the direction perpendicular to the jet, but a few sources have broad plumes. In some low luminosity radio galaxies, the structure appears more symmetric at 2 cm than at long wavelengths. The apparent long wavelength symmetry in these sources is probably due to absorption by intervening material. A few sources contain only a single component with any secondary feature at least a thousand times weaker. We find no obvious correlation of radio morphology and the detection of gamma-ray emission by EGRET.

Investigations of the fine-scale structure in the compact nucleus of the radio source 3C 84 in NGC 1275 (New General Catalogue number) are reported. Structural monitoring observations beginning as early as 1976, and continuing to the present, revealed subluminal motions in a jet-like relatively diffuse region extending away from a flat-spectrum core. A counterjet feature was discovered in 1993, and very recent nearly simultaneous studies have detected the same feature at five frequencies ranging from 5 to 43 GHz. The counterjet exhibits a strong low-frequency cutoff, giving this region of the source an inverted spectrum. The observations are consistent with a physical model in which the cutoff arises from free-free absorption in a volume that surrounds the core but obscures only the counterjet feature. If such a model is confirmed, very-long-baseline radio interferometry observations can then be used to probe the accretion region, outside the radio jet, on parsec scales.

THE question of when galaxies and stars started to form in the early Universe is one of the most fundamental in cosmology. Faint radio sources (with fluxes of a few microjanskys or less) may be these early galaxies; radio surveys have shown them to be increasingly common as fainter levels are reached1-7, suggesting that they are an important constituent of the early Universe. Many of these sources were identified with faint blue galaxies—some of which have peculiar morphology (perhaps arising from inter actions) 1,8-10 or with galaxies hosting enhanced star formation activity10-12, but lack of optical resolution has made the nature of these identifications rather uncertain. Here we present the results of a very deep radio survey, obtained with the Very Large Array, of a field imaged with the Wide Field Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope. We find that most of the microjansky sources are indeed faint blue galaxies, with light profiles resembling disk galaxies. More than half of these galaxies occur in pairs or small groups, compared to fewer than ten per cent of nearby galaxies. We conclude that the microjansky sources are luminous disk galaxies, in a starburst (or post-starburst) phase that was triggered by interactions or mergers. Only a few show evidence for an active nucleus2,13,14, which is the other possible power source for the emission.

We present 1625 new 15 GHz (2 cm) VLBA images of 295 jets associated with active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the MOJAVE and 2 cm VLBA surveys, spanning observations between 1994 Aug 31 and 2013 Aug 20. For 274 AGNs with at least 5 VLBA epochs, we have analyzed the kinematics of 961 individual bright features in their parsec-scale jets. A total of 122 of these jets have not been previously analyzed by the MOJAVE program. In the case of 451 jet features that had at least 10 epochs, we also examined their kinematics for possible accelerations. At least half of the well-sampled features have non-radial and/or accelerating trajectories, indicating that non-ballistic motion is common in AGN jets. Since it is impossible to extrapolate any accelerations that occurred before our monitoring period, we could only determine reliable ejection dates for about 24% of those features that had significant proper motions. The distribution of maximum apparent jet speeds in all 295 AGNs measured by our program to date is peaked below 5c, with very few jets with apparent speeds above 30c. The fastest speed in our survey is about 50c, measured in the jet of the quasar PKS 0805-07, and is indicative of a maximum jet Lorentz factor of about 50 in the parent population. The Fermi LAT-detected gamma-ray AGNs in our sample have, on average, higher jet speeds than non LAT-detected AGNs, indicating a strong correlation between pc-scale jet speed and gamma-ray Doppler boosting factor. We have identified 11 moderate-redshift (z10c) that are strong candidates for future TeV gamma-ray detection. Of the five gamma-ray loud narrow-lined Seyfert I AGNs in our sample, three show highly superluminal jet motions, while the others have sub-luminal speeds. (abridged), 16 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables; accepted by Astronomical journal; full electronic versions of the 5 tables are available from the preprint source

With the goal of investigating the link between black hole (BH) and star formation (SF) activity, we study a deep sample of radio selected star forming galaxies (SFGs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Using a multi-wavelength approach we characterize their host galaxies properties (stellar masses, optical colors, and morphology). Moreover, comparing the star formation rate derived from the radio and far-infrared luminosity, we found evidences that the main contribution to the radio emission in the radio-quiet AGNs is star-formation activity in their host galaxy.

In 1996, a major radio flux-density outburst occured in the broad-line radio galaxy 3C111. It was followed by a particularly bright plasma ejection associated with a superluminal jet component, which has shaped the parsec-scale structure of 3C111 for almost a decade. Here, we present results from 18 epochs of Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations conducted since 1995 as part of the VLBA 2 cm Survey and MOJAVE monitoring programs. This major event allows us to study a variety of processes associated with outbursts of radio-loud AGN in much greater detail than has been possible in other cases: the primary perturbation gives rise to the formation of a leading and a following component, which are interpreted as a forward and a backward-shock. Both components evolve in characteristically different ways and allow us to draw conclusions about the work flow of jet-production events; the expansion, acceleration and recollimation of the ejected jet plasma in an environment with steep pressure and density gradients are revealed; trailing components are formed in the wake of the primary perturbation possibly as a result of coupling to Kelvin-Helmholtz instability pinching modes from the interaction of the jet with the external medium. The interaction of the jet with its ambient medium is further described by the linear-polarization signature of jet components traveling along the jet and passing a region of steep pressure/density gradients., Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal; a reference is updated

Relations between the observed quantities for a beamed radio jet, apparent transverse speed and apparent luminosity (beta_app,L), and the intrinsic quantities, Lorentz factor and intrinsic luminosity (gamma,L_o), are investigated. The inversion from measured to intrinsic values is not unique, but approximate limits to gamma and L_o can be found using probability arguments. Roughly half the sources in a flux density--limited, beamed sample have a value of gamma close to the measured beta_app. The methods are applied to observations of 119 AGN jets made with the VLBA at 15 GHz during 1994-2002. The results strongly support the common relativistic beam model for an extragalactic radio jet. The (beta_app,L) data are closely bounded by a theoretical envelope, an aspect curve for gamma=32, L_o= 10^25 W/Hz. This gives limits to the maximum values of gamma and L_o in the sample: gamma_max about 32, and L_o,max ~ 10^26 W/Hz. No sources with both high beta_app and low L are observed. This is not the result of selection effects due to the observing limits, which are flux density S>0.5 Jy, and angular velocity mu, Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

We report on the acceleration properties of 329 features in 95 blazar jets from the MOJAVE VLBA program. Nearly half the features and three-quarters of the jets show significant changes in speed and/or direction. In general, apparent speed changes are distinctly larger than changes in direction, indicating that changes in the Lorentz factors of jet features dominate the observed speed changes rather than bends along the line of sight. Observed accelerations tend to increase the speed of features near the jet base, $\lesssim 10-20$ parsecs projected, and decrease their speed at longer distances. The range of apparent speeds at fixed distance in an individual jet can span a factor of a few, indicating that shock properties and geometry may influence the apparent motions; however, we suggest that the broad trend of jet features increasing their speed near the origin is due to an overall acceleration of the jet flow out to de-projected distances of order $10^2$ parsecs, beyond which the flow begins to decelerate or remains nearly constant in speed. We estimate intrinsic rates of change of the Lorentz factors in the galaxy frame of order $\dot{\Gamma}/\Gamma \simeq 10^{-3}$ to $10^{-2}$ per year which can lead to total Lorentz factor changes of a factor of a few on the length scales observed here. Finally, we also find evidence for jet collimation at projected distances of $\lesssim 10$ parsecs in the form of the non-radial motion and bending accelerations that tend to better align features with the inner jet., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for Publication in ApJ

We present a 1.4-GHz catalog of 810 radio sources (560 sources in the complete sample) with 1.8" resolution found within a 17' radius in the SSA13 field (RA=13h12m,DEC=42d38'). The radio image from the VLA has an rms noise level of 4.82 microJy/beam at the field center, and Subaru optical images in r-band (6300A) and z-band (9200A) have a three-sigma detection magnitude of 26.1 and 24.9, respectively. 88% of the radio sources are identified with an optical counterpart, and there is significantly more reddening for objects fainter than 24-mag. The radio and optical parameters are tabulated, and source morphologies are displayed by radio contours overlaying optical false-color images. The radio structures show a wealth of complexity and these are classified into a small number of categories. About one-third of the radio sources are larger than 1.2" and their orientation is often similar to that of the associated galaxy or binary-galaxy system. The density of sources in the SSA13 field above 75 microJy is 0.40 per square arcmin, with a slope of -2.43 in the differential counts. The radio spectral index may steepen for sources below 75 microJy. We estimate that at most 40% of the microJansky radio sources are dominated by AGN processes., Comment: 50 pages, 14 figures of which fig 6 contains 33 parts. In press, Astrophysical Journal, Suppl

We present a new method for studying the intrinsic brightness temperatures of the parsec-scale jet cores of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Our method uses observed superluminal motions and observed brightness temperatures for a large sample of AGN to constrain the characteristic intrinsic brightness temperature of the sample as a whole. To study changes in intrinsic brightness temperature, we assume that the Doppler factors of individual jets are constant in time as justified by their relatively small changes in observed flux density. We find that in their median-low brightness temperature state, the sources in our sample have a narrow range of intrinsic brightness temperatures centered on a characteristic temperature, T_int = 3 x 10^10 K, which is close to the value expected for equipartition, when the energy in the radiating particles equals the energy stored in the magnetic fields. However, in their maximum brightness state, we find that sources in our sample have a characteristic intrinsic brightness temperature greater than 2 x 10^11 K, which is well in excess of the equipartition temperature. In this state, we estimate the energy in radiating particles exceeds the energy in the magnetic field by a factor of ~ 10^5. We suggest that the excess of particle energy when sources are in their maximum brightness state is due to injection or acceleration of particles at the base of the jet. Our results suggest that the common method of estimating jet Doppler factors by using a single measurement of observed brightness temperature and/or the assumption of equipartition may lead to large scatter or systematic errors in the derived values., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Accepted to Appear in ApJ Letters

We have measured the size of the compact radio nucleus of the giant radio galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) as 0.5 ± 0.1 milliarcseconds. The corresponding linear dimensions of 0.01 pc ~ 10 light-days ~ 1016 cm make this the smallest known extragalactic radio source. If the radio lobes are powered by a massive central engine, such as a black hole, their large total energy content combined with our measurement of the size of the central radio source, suggest that the central mass density may have exceeded 5 × 1013 M☉ pc-3, a value far larger than has been determined for any other active galactic nucleus or quasar.

The form of the quasar luminosity function and its redshift dependence to z~1 has long been established; powerful evolution is required so that by z=1 there is an increase of order 102 – 103 in the space density of the most luminous sources. However it is more difficult to deduce the form of the LF at high redshifts. In this contribution we discuss how a sample of relatively bright radio sources has been used to determine the high-redshift behavior of the radiodoud quasar luminosity function, and the particular advantages of using a radio-selected sample. Our results illustrate how radio-loud quasar samples can be an efficient probe of the high-redshift. Universe.

Eighteen days of MERLIN data and 42 hours of A‐array VLA data at 1.4 GHz have been combined to image a 10‐arcmin field centred on the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). This area also includes the Hubble Flanking Fields (HFF). A complete sample of 92 radio sources with S1.4GHz>40μJy was detected using the VLA data alone and then imaged with the MERLIN+VLA combination. The combined images offer: i) higher angular resolution (synthesised beams of diameter 0.2–0.5 arcsec); ii) improved astrometric accuracy and iii) improved sensitivity compared with VLA‐only data. The images are amongst the most sensitive yet made at 1.4 GHz, with rms noise levels of 3.3μJy/beam in the 0.2‐arcsec images. Virtually all the sources are resolved, with angular sizes in the range 0.2 to 3 arcsec. Radio sources associated with compact galaxies have been used to align the HDF, the HFF and a larger CFHT optical field, to the radio‐based International Celestial Reference Frame. The HST optical fields have been registered to

We have mapped the broad line radio galaxy 3C390.3 at 1.3, 6, and 18 cm wavelengths with resolutions ranging from 0.2 to 2.7 mas. Our new 6 cm image is consistent with a stationary bright region located 4 to 5 mas from the core and motion of the other features with apparent velocities of 0.4 to 0.7 mas/yr. Our high resolution 1.3 cm image indicates that the ‘jet’ breaks up into 5 or more distinct features.

We present a new sample of quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum radio sources selected to search for high-redshift quasars and to study the evolution of the flat-spectrum quasar population. The sample comprises 878 radio sources selected from the Parkes catalogues with spectral indices α 5 G H z 2 . 7 G H z ≥ -0.4 where S ν oc ν α . The sample covers all right ascensions and the declination range from -80°.0 to +2°.5, excluding low galactic latitudes (‖ b ‖< 10°) and the Magellanic Cloud regions. We have obtained improved radio source positions, firstly to reconfirm the majority of the existing identifications, and secondly, using digitized sky-survey data and deep B, Gunn-i and Gunn-z CCD-imaging, to find optical identifications for 223 previously-unidentified sources. We present the final catalogue of 878 flat-spectrum sources: 827 are compact radio sources identified with galaxies, quasars and BL Lac objects, 38 have either extended radio structure or are identified with Galactic objects (PN, HII or non-compact radio source), 4 are obscured by Galactic stars, and 9 (1 per cent of the total sample) remain unidentified.

We present the results of a multi-epoch VLBA study of the powerful radio source 4C +12.50 (PKS 1345+125) at a wavelength of 2 cm. This compact radio source is associated with a hidden quasar whose host galaxy shows signs of a recent merger. It has been classified as a compact symmetric source (CSO) due to its small overall size (~220 pc) and twin-jet morphology, although it also has faint extended emission that may be a relic of previous activity. We report the detection of exceedingly high linear fractional polarization in isolated features of the southern jet (up to 60%), which is highly unusual for a CSO. Given the large amount of gas present in the host galaxy, we would expect significant Faraday depolarization across the whole source, unless the depolarizing gas is fairly clumpy. The southern jet also contains two features that are moving outward from the core at apparent speeds of v/c = 1.0 +/- 0.3 and 1.2 +/- 0.3. These represent the first positive detections of superluminal motion in a CSO, and taken together with the jet to counter-jet flux ratio, suggest an intrinsic flow speed of v/c = 0.84 +/- 0.12. The apparent ridgeline of the jet and counter-jet are consistent with a conical helix of wavelength 280 pc that is the result of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities driven by a slow precession of the jet nozzle. A fit to the data implies that the nozzle is precessing around a cone with half-angle 23 degrees, whose axis lies at an angle of 82 degrees to the line of sight. We suggest that the "S"-shaped jet morphologies commonly seen in recent AGN outflows such as 4C +12.50 may simply reflect the fact that their black hole spin axes are still precessing, and have not had sufficient time to align with their accretion disks., Comment: 15 pages including 6 figures. Uses emulateapj.sty. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal