Accretion Disks, Jets and Black Holes: Precision Astrometry of Quasars with SIM

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

Optical astrometry of quasars and active galaxies can provide key information on the spatial distribution and variability of emission in compact nuclei. The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM PlanetQuest) will have the sensitivity to measure a significant number of quasar positions at the microarcsecond level. Although it will not resolve the emission, SIM will be very sensitive to astrometric shifts, for objects as faint as V magnitude 19. A variety of AGN phenomena are expected to be visible to SIM on these scales, including time and spectral dependence in position offsets between accretion disk and jet emission. Observations will be tailored to each specific target and science question. These represent unique data on the spatial distribution and time dependence of quasar emission. SIM will also probe the use of quasar nuclei as fundamental astrometric references. Comparisons between the time-dependent optical photocenter position and VLBI radio images will provide further insight into the jet emission mechanism. SIM will be able to distinguish spatially between jet and accretion disk emission; and it can observe the cores of galaxies potentially harboring binary supermassive black holes resulting from mergers. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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