Very Long Baseline Polarimetry of BL Lacertae

Details Very Long Baseline Polarimetry of BL Lacertae Very Long Baseline Polarimetry of BL Lacertae

May 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999aas...194.5032d&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, 194th AAS Meeting, #50.32; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 31, p.902

Mathematics

Logic

1

Scientific paper

We present the results of a polarization sensitive VLBA monitoring program of the AGN BL Lacertae spanning epochs 1995.4 - 1998.3. The images show the ejection of four highly polarized superluminal components (denoted S7, S8, S9, and S10 chronologically). The trajectories of the components are clearly non-radial. Extrapolation of the position of the components to their respective birth epochs indicates that some of the components are apparently created in pairs, with a fast component and a slow component; the birth epochs are t_0 = (1994.12 +/- 0.13, 1994.20 +/- 0.05) for (S7, S8) and t_0 = (1996.35 +/- 0.09, 1996.47 +/- 0.10) for (S9, S10). The apparent velocities (beta_ {app}) for the components are S7: (4.1+/-0.1)h(-1) , S8: (2.4+/-0.6)h(-1) , S9: (6.1+/-0.6)h(-1) , and S10:(3.1+/-0.2)h(-1) . There has been no obvious radio counterpart to the large optical-gamma ray outburst at epoch 1997.6 (from three subsequent epochs.) The core component polarization was low and found to satisfy a nu (2) frequency dependence expected from a turbulent foreground Faraday screen with characteristic spatial scale s_0 ~ 0.3 a.u. We have applied the helical model of Hardee (1987) to explain the components' non-radial trajectories. The best fit trajectories indicate that the angle of the helical axis to the line of sight is consistent with Theta =~ 9arcdeg and the jet half-opening angle is Psi =~ 2arcdeg . Using the polarized maps, we have applied a relativistic shock model (Hughes et al. 1985) to the components and have determined that the three slower components (S7, S8, and S10) are weak shocks (compression k ~ 0.7) and that the fastest component (S9) is a strong shock (k ~ 0.4).

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Very Long Baseline Polarimetry of BL Lacertae does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Very Long Baseline Polarimetry of BL Lacertae, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Very Long Baseline Polarimetry of BL Lacertae will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1120581