Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 1993
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993natur.363..142g&link_type=abstract
Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 363, no. 6425, p. 142-144.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
6
Active Galactic Nuclei, Bl Lacertae Objects, Interstellar Magnetic Fields, Quasars, Radio Jets (Astronomy), Radio Astronomy, Relativistic Effects
Scientific paper
Radio polarimetric VLBI reveals different magnetic field structures in the knots of synchrotron emission identified with shocks in the jets of BL Lacs and highly polarized quasars (HPQs). For BL Lacs the field is generally perpendicular to the jet, whereas no such trend is apparent for HPQs. This dichotomy has led to the claim that luminous BL Lacs and HPQs are inherently different kinds of object. It is proposed here that the difference can be readily explained within the unified scheme by the effect of relativistic aberration; at small viewing angles the observed knot emission arises primarily from the freshly excited plasma of the shock front, whereas at larger angles Doppler-boosted emission from the lower postshock plasma is the dominant contribution. The former case is identified with BL Lacs and the latter with HPQs.
Gopal-Krishna
Wiita Paul J.
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