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arXiv · 0910.0135

A closer look at the flaring feature in the M87 jet

C. S. Chang·E. Ros·Y. Y. Kovalev·M. L. Lister
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Abstract

The radio-loud active galactic nucleus in M 87 hosts a powerful jet fueled by a super-massive black hole in its center. A bright feature 80 pc away from the M 87 core has been reported to show superluminal motions, and possibly to be connected with a TeV flare observed around 2005. To complement these studies and to understand the nature of this feature, we analyzed 2 cm VLBI data from 15 observing runs between 2000 and 2009. This feature is successfully detected at the milli-Jansky level from 2003 to 2007. Our detections show that its milli-arcsecond structure appears to be extended with a steep spectrum, and no compact or rapidly moving features are observed. Our results do not favor a blazar scenario for this feature.

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C. S. Chang, E. Ros, Y. Y. Kovalev, M. L. Lister. 2009-10-01. A closer look at the flaring feature in the M87 jet. https://arxiv.org/abs/0910.0135

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