arXiv subjects

B. G. Piner

Publications and source records attributed to B. G. Piner.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

A decade of multi-wavelength observations of the TeV blazar 1ES 1215+303: Extreme shift of the synchrotron peak frequency and long-term optical-gamma-ray flux increase

Blazars are known for their variability on a wide range of timescales at all wavelengths. Most studies of TeV gamma-ray blazars focus on short timescales, especially during flares. With a decade of observations from the Fermi-LAT and VERITAS, we present an extensive study of the long-term multi-wavelength radio-to-gamma-ray flux-density variability, with the addition of a couple of short-time radio-structure and optical polarization observations of the blazar 1ES 1215+303 (z=0.130), with a focus on its gamma-ray emission from 100 MeV to 30 TeV. Multiple strong GeV gamma-ray flares, a long-term increase in the gamma-ray and optical flux baseline and a linear correlation between these two bands are observed over the ten-year period. Typical HBL behaviors are identified in the radio morphology and broadband spectrum of the source. Three stationary features in the innermost jet are resolved by VLBA at 43.1, 22.2, and 15.3 GHz. We employ a two-component synchrotron self-Compton model to describe different flux states of the source, including the epoch during which an extreme shift in energy of the synchrotron peak frequency from infrared to soft X-rays is observed.

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arXiv2020

A parsec-scale wobbling jet in the high-synchrotron peaked blazar PG 1553+113

PG 1553+113 is the first blazar showing an approximately two-year quasi-periodic pattern in its gamma-ray light curve. Such quasi-periodicity might have a geometrical origin, possibly related to the precessing nature of the jet, or could be intrinsic to the source and related to pulsational accretion flow instabilities. By means of a ~2yr very long baseline array (VLBA) monitoring at 15, 24, and 43 GHz we investigate the source pc-scale properties during an entire cycle of gamma-ray activity in the period 2015-2017. In contrast to the well-defined periodicity in the gamma-ray emission, at radio frequencies no clear periodic pattern can be recognized. The jet position angle, constrained by means of the total intensity ridge line, varies across the different observing epochs in the range 40-60 deg. We also investigate the time evolution of the source polarization properties, including the rotation measure. The brightness temperature is found to decrease as the frequency increases with an intrinsic value of ~1.5 x 10^10 K and the estimated Doppler factor is ~1.4.

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arXiv2015

Parsec scale polarization properties of the TeV blazar Markarian 421

In this work we present a polarization analysis at radio frequencies of Markarian 421, one of the closest (z=0.03) TeV blazars. The observations were obtained, both in total and in polarized intensity, with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 15, 24, and 43 GHz throughout 2011, with one observation per month (for a total of twelve epochs). We investigate the magnetic field topology and the polarization structure on parsec scale and their evolution with time. We detect polarized emission both in the core and in the jet region, and it varies with frequency, location and time. In the core region we measure a mean fractional polarization of about 1-2%, with a peak of about 4% in March at 43 GHz; the polarization angle is almost stable at 43 GHz, but it shows significant variability in the range 114-173 deg at 15 GHz. In the jet region the polarization properties show a more stable behavior; the fractional polarization is about 16% and the polarization angle is nearly perpendicular to the jet axis. The higher EVPA variability observed at 15 GHz is due both to a variable Faraday rotation effect and to opacity. The residual variability observed in the intrinsic polarization angle, together with the low degree of polarization in the core region, could be explained with the presence of a blend of variable cross-polarized subcomponents within the beam.

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arXiv2013

The TeV blazar Markarian 421 at the highest spatial resolution

We report the results obtained for the AGN Markarian 421 by model-fitting the data in the visibility plane, studing the proper motion of jet components, the light curve, and the spectral index of the jet features. We compare the radio data with optical light curves obtained at the Steward Observatory, considering also the optical polarization information. Mrk 421 has a bright nucleus and a one-sided jet extending towards the north-west for a few parsecs. The model-fits show that brightness distribution is well described using 6-7 circular Gaussian components, four of which are reliably identified at all epochs; all components are effectively stationary except for component D, at ~0.4 mas from the core, whose motion is however subluminal. Analysis of the light curve shows two different states, with the source being brighter and more variable in the first half of 2011 than in the second half. The highest flux density is reached in February. A comparison with the optical data reveals an increase of the V magnitude and of the fractional polarization simultaneous with the enhancement of the radio activity.

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arXiv2012

Relativistic Jets in the Radio Reference Frame Image Database II: Blazar Jet Accelerations from the First 10 Years of Data (1994 - 2003)

(Abridged) We analyze blazar jet apparent speeds and accelerations from the RDV series of astrometric and geodetic VLBI experiments. From these experiments, we have produced and analyzed 2753 global VLBI images of 68 sources at 8 GHz with a median beam size of 0.9 milliarcseconds (mas), and a median of 43 epochs per source. From this sample, we analyze the motions of 225 jet components in 66 sources. The distribution of the fastest measured apparent speed in each source has a median of 8.3c and a maximum of 44c. Sources in the 2FGL Fermi LAT catalog display higher apparent speeds than those that have not been detected. On average, components farther from the core in a given source have significantly higher apparent speeds than components closer to the core. We measure accelerations of components in orthogonal directions parallel and perpendicular to their average velocity vector. Parallel accelerations have significantly larger magnitudes than perpendicular accelerations, implying observed accelerations are predominantly due to changes in the Lorentz factor (bulk or pattern) rather than projection effects from jet bending. Positive parallel accelerations are significantly more common than negative ones, so the Lorentz factor (bulk or pattern)tends to increase on the scales observed here. Observed parallel accelerations correspond to modest source frame increases in the bulk or pattern Lorentz factor.

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arXiv2007

The VSOP 5 GHz Active Galactic Nucleus Survey: V. Imaging Results for the Remaining 140 sources

In February 1997, the Japanese radio astronomy satellite HALCA was launched to provide the space-bourne element for the VLBI Space Observatory Programme (VSOP) mission. Approximately twenty-five percent of the mission time was dedicated to the VSOP Survey of bright compact Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) at 5 GHz. This paper, the fifth in the series, presents images and models for the remaining 140 sources not included in Paper III, which contained 102 sources. For most sources, the plots of the uv-coverage, the visibility amplitude versus uv-distance, and the high resolution image are presented. Model fit parameters to the major radio components are determined, and the brightness temperature of the core component for each source is calculated. The brightness temperature distributions for all of the sources in the VSOP AGN survey are discussed.

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arXiv2007

Relativistic Jets in The Radio Reference Frame Image Database I: Apparent Speeds from the First Five Years of Data

(Abridged) We present the results of an analysis of relativistic jet apparent speeds from VLBI images in the Radio Reference Frame Image Database (RRFID). The images are snapshot VLBI images at 8 and 2 GHz using the VLBA plus up to ten additional antennas that provide global VLBI coverage. We have analyzed the 8 GHz images from the first five years of the database (1994-1998), for all sources observed at three or more epochs during this time range. This subset comprises 966 images of 87 sources. The sources in this subset have an average of 11 epochs of observation over the years 1994-1998, with the best-observed sources having 19 epochs. About half of the sources in this RRFID kinematic survey have not been previously studied with multi-epoch VLBI observations. We have measured apparent speeds for a total of 184 jet components in 77 sources, of which the best-measured 94 component speeds in 54 sources are used in the final analysis. The apparent speed distribution shows a peak at low apparent speeds (consistent with stationary components), a tail extending out to apparent speeds of about 30c, and a mean apparent speed of 3.6c. A total of 36 of the sources in this paper are also included in the 2 cm VLBA survey by Kellermann et al., with similar angular resolution, sensitivity, and time range. For those sources, we present a detailed component-by-component comparison of the apparent speeds measured by the 2 cm survey and those measured in this paper. Many of the independent apparent speed measurements agree very well, but for approximately 25% of the components we find significant differences in the apparent speeds measured by the two surveys. The leading cause of these discrepancies are differences in how the two surveys have identified jet components from epoch-to-epoch.

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arXiv2005

The Fastest Relativistic Jets: VLBA Observations of Blazars with Apparent Speeds Exceeding 25c

We have measured peak apparent speeds of 25.6 +/- 7.0c, 25.6 +/- 4.4c, and 28.2 +/- 6.6c in the jets of 0235+164, 0827+243, and 1406-076, respectively, based on six epochs of high-sensitivity VLBA observations at 22 and 43 GHz during 2002 and 2003 (H_{0}=71 km/(s Mpc), Omega_{m}=0.27, and Omega_{Lambda}=0.73). These blazars had been identified as potentially having apparent speeds exceeding 40c in an earlier VLBA survey of EGRET blazars by Jorstad et al. We therefore confirm (with high confidence in 0827+243, and lower confidence in 0235+164 and 1406-076) the presence of highly relativistic pattern speeds in these three jets, although not at the >40c levels reported by Jorstad et al. The lower limit to the bulk Lorentz factor implied by the observed apparent speeds is Gamma>25-30 in these three sources, if the pattern speeds are equal to or slower than the bulk flow speed.

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arXiv2004

Current Results from the RRFID Kinematic Survey: Apparent Speeds from the First Five Years of Data

We present current results from our ongoing project to study the parsec-scale relativistic jet kinematics of sources in the U.S. Naval Observatory's Radio Reference Frame Image Database (RRFID). The RRFID consists of snapshot observations using the VLBA plus up to 9 additional antennas at 8 and 2 GHz. The Image Database currently contains about 3000 images of 450 sources from 1994 to 2004, with some sources having images at 20 epochs or more. We have now completed analysis of the 8 GHz images for all sources observed at 3 or more epochs from 1994 to 1998. The completed analysis comprises 966 images of 87 sources, or an average of 11 epochs per source. Apparent jet speeds have been measured for these sources, and the resulting speed distribution has been compared with results obtained by other large VLBI surveys. The measured apparent speed distribution agrees with those found by the 2 cm survey and Caltech-Jodrell Bank (CJ) survey; however, when a source-by-source comparison is done with the 2 cm survey results, significant disagreement is found in the apparent speed measurements for a number of sources. This disagreement can be traced in most cases to either an insufficient time baseline for the current RRFID results, or to apparent component mis-identification in the 2 cm survey results caused by insufficient time sampling. These results emphasize the need for long time baselines and dense time sampling for multi-epoch monitoring of relativistic jets.

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arXiv2004

The VSOP 5 GHz AGN Survey: III. Imaging Results for the First 102 Sources

The VSOP mission is a Japanese-led project to study radio sources with sub-milliarcsec resolution using an orbiting 8 m telescope, HALCA, along with global arrays of Earth-based telescopes. Approximately 25% of the observing time is devoted to a survey of compact AGN which are stronger than 1 Jy at 5 GHz-the VSOP AGN Survey. This paper, the third in the series, presents the results from the analysis of the first 102 Survey sources. We present high resolution images and plots of visibility amplitude versus projected baseline length. In addition, model-fit parameters to the primary radio components are listed, and from these the angular size and brightness temperature for the radio cores are calculated. For those sources for which we were able to determine the source frame core brightness temperature, a significant fraction (53 out of 98) have a source frame core brightness temperature in excess of 10^12 K. The maximum source frame core brightness temperature we observed was 1.2 X 10^13 K. Explaining a brightness temperature this high requires an extreme amount of relativistic Doppler beaming. Since the maximum brightness temperature one is able to determine using only ground-based arrays is of the order of 10^12 K, our results confirm the necessity of using space VLBI to explore the extremely high brightness temperature regime.

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arXiv2004

The VSOP 5 GHz AGN Survey II. Data Calibration and Imaging

The VSOP mission is a Japanese-led project to study radio sources with sub-milliarcsecond angular resolution using an orbiting 8-m telescope, HALCA and global arrays of Earth-based telescopes. Approximately 25% of the observing time has been devoted to a survey of compact AGN at 5 GHz which are stronger than 1 Jy -- the VSOP AGN Survey. This paper, the second in a series, describes the data calibration, source detection, self-calibration, imaging and modeling, and gives examples illustrating the problems specific to space VLBI. The VSOP Survey web-site which contains all results and calibrated data is described.

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arXiv2003

Parsec Scale Properties of Markarian 501

We present the results of a high angular resolution study of the BL Lac object Markarian 501 in the radio band. We consider data taken at 14 different epochs, ranging between 1.6 GHz and 22 GHz in frequency, and including new Space VLBI observations obtained on 2001 March 5 and 6 at 1.6 and 5 GHz. We study the kinematics of the parsec-scale jet and estimate its bulk velocity and orientation with respect to the line of sight. Limb brightened structure in the jet is clearly visible in our data and we discuss its possible origin in terms of velocity gradients in the jet. Quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength observations allow us to map the spectral index distribution and to compare it to the jet morphology. Finally, we estimate the physical parameters of the parsec-scale jet.

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arXiv2002

The Sub-Luminal Parsec-scale Jet of Mkn 501

We have combined Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) data from several programs in order to resolve differences in reported parsec-scale jet speeds for the TeV gamma-ray source Mkn501. Data from the VLBA 2cm survey, and 8 and 15 GHz data from the Radio Reference Frame Image Database, have been combined with data from a 5 GHz VSOP Space VLBI observation to determine the apparent motions of jet components in this source. The combined data set consists of 12 observations between April 1995 and July 1999. Four jet components are detected at most epochs, all of which are clearly sub-luminal (i.e. with apparent speeds < c), and two of which appear stationary. The established TeV gamma-ray sources Mkn 501 and Mkn 421 thus both have sub-luminal parsec-scale jets, in contrast to the apparently super-luminal jets of the majority of >100 MeV sources detected by EGRET. No new VLBI component has emerged from the core following the extended TeV high-state in 1997, again in contrast to the general behavior of >100 MeV gamma-ray sources.

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arXiv2001

The Pearson-Readhead Survey of Compact Extragalactic Radio Sources From Space. I. The Images

We present images from a space-VLBI survey using the facilities of the VLBI Space Observatory Programme (VSOP), drawing our sample from the well-studied Pearson-Readhead survey of extragalactic radio sources. Our survey has taken advantage of long space-VLBI baselines and large arrays of ground antennas, such as the Very Long Baseline Array and European VLBI Network, to obtain high resolution images of 27 active galactic nuclei, and to measure the core brightness temperatures of these sources more accurately than is possible from the ground. A detailed analysis of the source properties is given in accompanying papers. We have also performed an extensive series of simulations to investigate the errors in VSOP images caused by the relatively large holes in the (u,v) plane when sources are observed near the orbit normal direction. We find that while the nominal dynamic range (defined as the ratio of map peak to off-source error) often exceeds 1000:1, the true dynamic range (map peak to on-source error) is only about 30:1 for relatively complex core-jet sources. For sources dominated by a strong point source, this value rises to approximately 100:1. We find the true dynamic range to be a relatively weak function of the difference in position angle (PA) between the jet PA and (u,v) coverage major axis PA. For low signal-to-noise regions typically located down the jet away from the core, large errors can occur, causing spurious features in VSOP images that should be interpreted with caution.

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arXiv2000

Kinematics of the Parsec-Scale Relativistic Jet in Quasar 3C 279: 1991 - 1997

We present results of long-term high-frequency VLBI monitoring of the relativistic jet in 3C279, consisting of 18 epochs at 22 GHz from 1991 to 1997 and 10 epochs at 43 GHz from 1995 to 1997. Three major results of this study are: apparent speeds measured for six superluminal components range from 4.8 to 7.5 c (H_{0}=70 km s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}, q_{0}=0.1), variations in the total radio flux are due primarily to changes in the VLBI core flux, and the uniform-sphere brightness temperature of the VLBI core is about 1 x 10^{13} K at 22 GHz after 1995, one of the highest direct estimates of a brightness temperature. If the variability brightness temperature measured for 3C279 by Lahteenmaki & Valtaoja is an actual value and not a lower limit, then the rest-frame brightness temperature of 3C279 is quite high and limited by inverse Compton effects rather than equipartition. The parsec-scale morphology of 3C279 consists of a bright, compact VLBI core, a jet component (C4) that moved from about 2 mas to about 3.5 mas from the core during the course of our monitoring, and an inner jet that extends from the core to a stationary component, C5, at about 1 mas from the core. Components in the inner jet are relatively short-lived, and fade by the time they reach about 1 mas from the core. The components have different speeds and position angles from each other, but these differences do not match the differences predicted by the precession model of Abraham & Carrara. Although VLBI components were born about six months prior to each of the two observed gamma-ray high states, the sparseness of the gamma-ray data prevents a statistical analysis of possible correlations.

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arXiv2000

Chandra Discovery of a 100 kpc X-ray Jet in PKS 0637--752

The quasar PKS 0637-753, the first celestial X-ray target of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, has revealed asymmetric X-ray structure extending from 3 to 12 arcsec west of the quasar, coincident with the inner portion of the jet previously detected in a 4.8 GHz radio image (Tingay et al. 1998). At a redshift of z=0.651, the jet is the largest (~100 kpc) and most luminous (~10^{44.6} ergs/s) of the few so far detected in X-rays. This letter presents a high resolution X-ray image of the jet, from 42 ks of data when PKS 0637-753 was on-axis and ACIS-S was near the optimum focus. For the inner portion of the radio jet, the X-ray morphology closely matches that of new ATCA radio images at 4.8 and 8.6 GHz. Observations of the parsec scale core using the VSOP space VLBI mission show structure aligned with the X-ray jet, placing important constraints on the X-ray source models. HST images show that there are three small knots coincident with the peak radio and X-ray emission. Two of these are resolved, which we use to estimate the sizes of the X-ray and radio knots. The outer portion of the radio jet, and a radio component to the east, show no X-ray emission to a limit of about 100 times lower flux. The X-ray emission is difficult to explain with models that successfully account for extra-nuclear X-ray/radio structures in other active galaxies. We think the most plausible is a synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model, but this would imply extreme departures from the conventional minimum-energy and/or homogeneity assumptions. We also rule out synchrotron or thermal bremsstrahlung models for the jet X-rays, unless multicomponent or ad hoc geometries are invoked.

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arXiv2000

VSOP Observations of a Sub-Parsec Accretion Disk

The physical conditions in the inner parsec of accretion disks believed to orbit the central black holes in active galactic nuclei can be probed by imaging the absorption of background radio emission by ionized gas in the disk. We report high angular resolution observations of the nearby galaxy NGC 4261 which show evidence for free-free absorption by a thin, nearly edge-on disk at several frequencies. The angular width, and probably the depth, of the absorption appears to increase with decreasing frequency, as expected. Because free-free absorption is much larger at lower frequencies, the longest possible baselines are needed to provide adequate angular resolution; observing at higher frequencies to improve resolution will not help.

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arXiv2000

Space VLBI Observations of 3C 279 at 1.6 and 5 GHz

We present the first VLBI Space Observatory Programme (VSOP) observations of the gamma-ray blazar 3C 279 at 1.6 and 5 GHz. The combination of the VSOP and VLBA-only images at these two frequencies maps the jet structure on scales from 1 to 100 mas. On small angular scales the structure is dominated by the quasar core and the bright secondary component `C4' located 3 milliarcseconds from the core (at this epoch). On larger angular scales the structure is dominated by a jet extending to the southwest, which at the largest scale seen in these images connects with the smallest scale structure seen in VLA images. We have exploited two of the main strengths of VSOP: the ability to obtain matched-resolution images to ground-based images at higher frequencies and the ability to measure high brightness temperatures. A spectral index map was made by combining the VSOP 1.6 GHz image with a matched-resolution VLBA-only image at 5 GHz from our VSOP observation on the following day. The spectral index map shows the core to have a highly inverted spectrum, with some areas having a spectral index approaching the limiting value for synchrotron self-absorbed radiation of 2.5. Gaussian model fits to the VSOP visibilities revealed high brightness temperatures (>10^{12} K) that are difficult to measure with ground-only arrays. An extensive error analysis was performed on the brightness temperature measurements. Most components did not have measurable brightness temperature upper limits, but lower limits were measured as high as 5x10^{12} K. This lower limit is significantly above both the nominal inverse Compton and equipartition brightness temperature limits. The derived Doppler factor, Lorentz factor, and angle to the line-of-sight in the case of the equipartition limit are at the upper end of the range of expected values for EGRET blazars.

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