The Structure and Motions of the 3C~120 Radio Jet on Scales of 0.6 to 300 Parsecs

Abstract

Results are presented from long term VLBI monitoring of the parsec-scale radio jet in 3C120, primarily at 5 and 1.7 GHz. Numerous superluminal features are followed, some over large fractional distances from the core. The speeds of the features are not all the same, but vary by less than a factor of 2. The superluminal features extend to core distances of over 0.2 arcseconds and the region of slowing has not been found. The 1.7 GHz images show evidence for stationary features in addition to the superluminal features. The structure of the jet in the vicinity of the most likely stationary feature is suggestive of a helical pattern seen in projection. The deprojected wavelength of the pattern is very long relative to the jet radius, unlike the situation in sources such as M87. If the 3C120 jet does contain a slowly-moving, helical structure, then theory suggests that the jet resides in a relatively cool medium, not in a relativistically hot cocoon or lobe.

35 pages with 8 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

Cited by in corpus (26)

• Magnetic acceleration of relativistic AGN jets
• Disk-Jet Connection in the Radio Galaxy 3C 120
• Faraday rotation and polarization gradients in the jet of 3C~120: Interaction with the external medium and a helical magnetic field?
• Monthly 43 GHz VLBA Polarimetric Monitoring of 3C120 over 16 Epochs: Evidence for Trailing Shocks in a Relativistic Jet
• A Multi-epoch VLBI Survey of the Kinematics of Caltech-Jodrell Bank Flat-Spectrum Sources, Part II: Analysis of the Kinematics
• On Multiwavelength Emission of Large-Scale Quasar Jets
• Astrophysical Jets and Outflows
• Can long-term periodic variability and jet helicity in 3C 120 be explained by jet precession?
• A spinning supermassive black hole binary model consistent with VLBI observations of the S5 1928+738 jet
• Modeling the 3C 120 Radio Jet from 1 to 30 Milliarcseconds
• On the source of Faraday rotation in the jet of the radio galaxy 3C120
• The connection between the radio jet and the gamma-ray emission in the radio galaxy 3C 120
• The 1.6 micron near infrared nuclei of 3C radio galaxies: Jets, thermal emission or scattered light?
• Resonant Kelvin-Helmholtz modes in sheared relativistic flows
• Modeling Helical Structures in Relativistic Jets
• The X-ray Jet of 3C 120: Evidence for a Non-standard Synchrotron Spectrum
• Wavelet analysis of a large sample of AGN at high radio frequencies
• Acceleration of Compact Radio Jets on Sub-parsec Scales
• Mutiwavelength Observations of Radio Galaxy 3C 120 with XMM-Newton
• The XMM-Newton View of the Broad-Line Radio Galaxy 3C 120
• Modelling photometric reverberation data -- a disk-like broad-line region and a potentially larger black hole mass for 3C120
• Unexpected High Brightness Temperature 140 PC from the Core in the Jet of 3C 120
• Blob formation and ejection from the radiative inefficient accretion flow around massive black hole
• Relativistic Jets: Open Problems and Challenges
• Probing IC/CMB Interpretation for the X-ray knots of AGN through VHE observations
• A Ring of Fire Orphan γ-Ray Flare in the Neutrino Candidate 3C 120