Quasar 3C 279
Movie (AVI format) of the evolution of the parsec-scale
jet of the quasar 3C 279. 1 mas = 6.4 parsecs for a Hubble constant of 65 km/s/Mpc.
The yellow contours show total intensity (starting at 90%, then 64%, 32%,
16%, ... of the peak), while the colored image corresponds to linearly polarized
intensity. The red sticks show the direction of the electric vector; the magnetic
field is perpendicular to the electric vector except perhaps in the most compact
components, which might be opaque or subject to Faraday rotation. The graph
on top shows in red the brightness (flux) of 2.4-10 keV X-rays as measured by
RXTE, and in green the brightness (flux density) of visible light as measured
at various observatories (see our X-ray page). The
red circle gets larger or smaller as the X-rays get brighter or fainter, and
the green circle does the same for the visible light.
The image of the jet is made with data from the VLBA at 43 GHz and the movie
interpolates linearly between the 20 images. Notice the outer feature (elegantly
termed a "blob" by experts), which moves steadily away from the unresolved stationary
feature on the left (eastern) end, customarily called the "core." The section
of the jet near the core starts out quite small and grows progressively during
the movie. After the beginning of 1998, the motion in this section suddenly
accelerates from about 5c to 13c! (We're currently trying to figure out the
best model to explain how this happened.) After this point, several new knots
are made each year, with each "birth" denoted by a blue arrow that
then moves to the right and changes color as the feature moves down the jet
and fades in brightness. The inner jet and the core have magnetic field directions
that are nearly perpendicular to the jet direction, as expected for plane-wave
shocks.
This movie was made by Svetlana Jorstad from data analyzed by her and Alan
Marscher, in collaboration with T. Cawthorne, A. Stirling, M. Lister, W. Gear,
J. Stevens, J.L. Gomez, D. Gabuzda, E.I. Robson, J.R. Forster, P. Smith, I.
McHardy, M. Aller, T. Balonek, G. Tosti, M. Villata, and C. Raiteri.