A new view on the M87 jet origin: Turbulent loading leading to large-scale episodic wiggling

0484586 - ASÚ 2018 RIV FR eng J - Journal Article
Britzen, S. - Fendt, C. - Eckart, A. - Karas, Vladimír
A new view on the M87 jet origin: Turbulent loading leading to large-scale episodic wiggling.
Astronomy & Astrophysics. Roč. 601, May (2017), A52/1-A52/17. ISSN 0004-6361. E-ISSN 1432-0746
Institutional support: RVO:67985815
Keywords : interferometric techniques * active galaxies * jets
OECD category: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)
Impact factor: 5.565, year: 2017

We aim to decipher some of the kinematic puzzles in the pc-scale jet with the analysis we present here. We find an indication for apparent superluminal motion in the jet. Moreover, we present evidence for acceleration between 0.5 and 10 mas of core separation. The data suggest that the central part of M87 at 15 GHz seems to be rotating. Jet components and counter-jet components are ejected in different directions under varying angles, explaining the impression of a broad opening angle. In this paper we present evidence for two different operating modes of the jet of M87. The jet switches between two phases: i) the jet ridge line is at least double or the jet axis is displaced vertically, and ii) an unperturbed phase where the jet ridge line remains almost straight but is smoothly curved and the jet components are aligned along a classical jet axis. The mode change occurs every couple of years. Between the two operating modes, a transition phase is visible.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0279758