Extreme Superluminal Motion in the Curved Jet of PKS 1502+106

Abstract

In this paper we present a multifrequency and multiepoch study of \object{PKS 1502+106} at radio frequencies. The analysis is based on an EVN (European VLBI Network) dataset at 5 GHz and archive VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) datasets at 2.3, 8.3, 24.4 and 43.1 GHz over a period of 8 years. The source is characterized by a multi--component one--sided jet at all epochs. The high--resolution images at 5, 8.3, 24.4 and 43.1 GHz show a curved jet morphology in the source. The radio core brightness temperature approaches the equipartition limit. Superluminal motions of $37.3\pm 9.3c$, $22.0\pm 15.5c$, $10.5\pm 2.6c$ and $27.9\pm 7.0c$ are measured in four distinct components of the jet. Our analysis supports the idea that the relativistic jet in \object{PKS 1502+106} is characterised by extreme beaming and that its radio properties are similar to those of $\gamma$--ray loud sources.

10 pages, 8 figures, accepted by A&A

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• PKS 1502+106: a new and distant gamma-ray blazar in outburst discovered by the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• Multi-wavelength and neutrino emission from blazar PKS 1502+106
• PKS 1502+106: A high-redshift Fermi blazar at extreme angular resolution. Structural dynamics with VLBI imaging up to 86 GHz
• A ring accelerator? Unusual jet dynamics in the IceCube candidate PKS 1502+106
• The Fastest Relativistic Jets: VLBA Observations of Blazars with Apparent Speeds Exceeding 25c
• Curvature induced polarization and spectral index behavior for PKS 1502+106
• INTEGRAL observations of the GeV blazar PKS1502+106 and of the hard X-ray bright Seyfert Galaxy Mkn841