Quasar PKS 1510-089

Movie (AVI format) of the evolution of the parsec-scale jet of the quasar PKS 1510-089. 1 mas = 5.1 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 2.4-20 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 17 images. Notice the frequent flaring out of the jet as a feature (elegantly termed a "blob" by experts) is ejected down the jet, separating from the bright, unresolved stationary feature on the lower left (southeastern) end, customarily called the "core." The blob ejected in late 1999 moved at an apparent speed of 40c (where c is the speed of light; this is, of course, an illusion that can be explained if the Lorentz factor of the motion is at least 40)! This object is among the most variable of all blazars, which can be explained by the extreme Lorentz factor of its jet.

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, M. Villata, and C. Raiteri.