The Inner Jet of the Radio Galaxy M87

Abstract

We report new 2 cm VLBA images of the inner radio jet of M87 showing a limb brightened structure and unambiguous evidence for a faint 3 mas long counter-feature which also appears limb brightened. Multi-epoch observations of seven separate jet features show typical speeds of less than a few percent of the speed of light, despite the highly asymmetric jet structure and the implications of the canonical relativistic beaming scenario. The observed morphology is consistent with a two stream spine-sheath velocity gradient across the jet, as might be expected from the recently discovered strong and variable TeV emission as well as from numerical modeling of relativistic jets. Considering the large jet to counter-jet flux density ratio and lack of observed fast motion in the jet, we conclude that either the inner part of the M87 jet is intrinsically asymmetric or that the bulk plasma flow speed is much greater than any propagation of shocks or other pattern motions.

4 pages, 2 color figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters; a typo in a reference has been corrected

References in corpus (7)

• Sub-milliarcsecond Imaging of Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei III. Kinematics of Parsec-Scale Radio Jets
• Fast variability of TeV gamma-rays from the radio galaxy M 87
• Relativistic Beaming and the Intrinsic Properties of Extragalactic Radio Jets
• Superluminal Radio Features in the M87 Jet and the Site of Flaring TeV Gamma-ray Emission
• Resonant Kelvin-Helmholtz modes in sheared relativistic flows
• Bulk Motion of Ultrarelativistic Conical Blazar Jets
• Influence of the jet opening angle on the derived kinematical parameters of blazar jets having uniform and stratified bulk motion

Cited by in corpus (73)

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• Linear polarization in the nucleus of M87 at 7 mm and 1.3 cm
• Constraint on the black-hole spin of M87 from the accretion-jet model
• Significant Limb-Brightening in the Inner Parsec of Markarian 501
• Detection of Superluminal Motion in the X-Ray Jet of M87
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• Multi-Wavelength Polarimetry and Spectral Study of M87 Jet During 2002-2008
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• Hard X-ray Emission from the M87 AGN Detected with NuSTAR
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• On the Internal Structure of Relativistic Jets with Zero Velocity Along the Axis
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• Super-Resolved Image of M87 Observed with East Asian VLBI Network
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• Investigating the Disk-Jet Structure in M87 through Flux Separation in the Linear and Circular Polarization Images
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