Seven-frequency VLBI Observations of the GHz-Peaked-Spectrum Source OQ 208

We present quasi-simultaneous VLBI images of the GHz-Peaked-Spectrum radio source OQ 208 obtained with the Very Long Baseline Array at 1.4,1.7,2.3,5.0,8.4,15.4GHz and the European VLBI Network at 6.7 GHz.The low frequency(1.4,1.7 and 2.3GHz)ob- servations reveal a weak and extended steep-spectrum component at about 30mas away at position angle-110°,which may be a remnant emission.The radio structure of OQ 208 con- sists of two mini-lobes at 5.0,6.7,8.4 and 15.4 GHz.Our spectral analysis further confirms that the southwest lobe undergoes free-free absorption and finds that the free-free absorption is stronger in the inner region.By fitting the 8.4 GHz images from 1994 to 2005,we obtain a separation speed of 0.031±0.006 mas yr~(-1)between the two mini-lobes.This indicates a jet proper motion of 0.105±0.020 c and a kinematic age of 219±42 yr for the radio source.     

Bending of Jets in the QSO NRAO 530

We present radio images of NRAO 530 on scales ranging from pc to kpc. The observations include the EVN at 5 GHz, the VLBA at 1.6, 8.6 and 15 GHz, the MERLIN at 1.6 and 5 GHz, and the VLA at 5, 8.4, 15, 22, and 43 GHz. The VLBI images show a core-jet structure with an oscillating trajectory on a scale of about 30 mas north of the strongest compact component (core). Superluminal motions are detected in five of the jet compo-nents with apparent velocities in the range of 13.6 to 25.2c. A new component is detected at 15 GHz with the VLBA observations, which appears to be associated with the outburst in 2002. Significant polarized emission is detected around the core with the VLBA observationsat 15 GHz. Rapid variations of the polarization intensity and angle are found between the epochs in 2002 and 2004. On the kpc-scale, a distant component (labelled as WL) located 11 arcsec west (PA=-86°) of the core is detected beyond the core-jet structure which ex-tended to several hundreds of mas in the north-west direction (-50°). A significant emission between the core-jet structure and the WL is revealed. A clump of diffuse emission (labelled EL, 12 arcsec long) at PA 70° to the core, is also detected in the VLA observations, suggest-ing the presence of double lobes in the source. The core component shows a flat spectrum,while the distant components WL and EL have steep spectra. The steep spectra of the distantcomponents and the detection of the arched emission suggest that the distant components are lobes or hot-spots powered by the core of NRAO 530. The morphologies from pc-to kpc- scales and the bending of jets are investigated. The observed radio morphology from pc to kcp appears to favor the model in which precession or wobbling of the nuclear disk drives the helical motion of the radio plasma and produces the S-shaped structure on kpc scale.     

The Kiloparsec-scale Structure of 3C 286

We present radio images of the compact steep spectrum (CSS) quasar 3C 286 acquired with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 8.4 and 22.5 GHz. The source exhibits a two-sided core-jet structure with a bright central component and two extended components one to the east (P.A. 100°) and another to the southwest (P.A. - 116°). From the compact core, an extension runs towards the southwest component up to - 0.7 arcsecond. The emission between the primary central component and the southwest component exhibits a knotty structure. A gradual change of the jet position angles from -135° to -120° in the inner southwest jet suggests a local bend. The position angle changes of the major eastern components E2 and El suggest that the eastern jet likely follows a curved trace. The bends in the jet trace may be associated with a relativistic precession or some interaction between the jet and the ambient matter. A mean spectral index of a22.58.4 - -0.76 (Sv ∝ va) is estimated for the core component. Steep spectra are also     

X-ray Spectroscopy of Dips of Cir X-1

We present X-ray spectral analyses of the low-mass X-ray binary Cir X-1 dur- ing X-ray dips,using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer(RXTE)data.Each dip was divided into several segments,and the spectrum of each segment was fitted with a three-component blackbody model,in which the first two components are affected by partial covering and the third one is unaffected.A Gaussian emission line is also included in the spectral model to represent the Fe Kαline at～6.4 keV.The fitted temperatures of the two partially covered components are about 2 keV and 1 keV,while the uncovered component has a temperature of～0.5-0.6 keV.The equivalent blackbody emission radius of the hottest component is the smallest and that of the coolest component is the largest.During the dips the fluxes of the two hot components are linearly correlated,while that of the third component does not show any significant variation.The Fe line flux remains constant,within the errors,during the short dips.However,during the long dips the line flux varies significantly and is positively correlated with the fluxes of the two hot components.These results suggest:(1)that the tem- perature of the X-ray emitting region decreases with radius,(2)that the Fe Kαline emitting region is close to the hot continuum emitting region,and(3)that the size of the Fe line emit- ting region is larger than that of the obscuring matter causing the short dips but smaller than the region of that causing the long dips.     

Quasar SDSS J142507.32+323137.4: dual AGNs?

We analyze the optical spectrum of type 1 QSO SDSS J1425+3231.This object is interesting since its narrow emission lines,such as O IIIλλ4959,5007,are double-peaked,and the line structure can be modeled well by three Gaussian components:two components for the two peaks (we refer to the peaks at low/high redshift as the blue/red component) and another one for the line wing which has the same line center as that of the blue component,but is ～ 3 times broader.The separation between the blue and red components i...     

Resolved SZE Cluster Count

We study the counts of resolved SZE(Sunyaev-Zel‘dovich effect)clusters expected from an interferometric survey in different cosmological models under different conditions.The self-similar universal gas model and Press-Schechter mass function are used.We take the observing frequency to be 90GHz,and consider two dish diameters,1.2m and 2.5m.We calculate the number density of the galaxy clusters dN/(dΩdz)at a high flux limit Sv^lim=100mJy and at a relative low Sv^lim=10mJy.The total numbers of SZE clusters N in two low-Ω0 models are compared.The results show that the inθuence of the resolved effect depends not only on D,but also on Sv^lim;at a given D,the effect is more significant for a high than for a low Sv^lim.Also,the resolved effect for a flat universe is more impressive than tnat for an open universe.ForD=1.2m and Sv^lim=10mJy,the resolved effect is very weak.Considering the designed interferometers which will be used to survey SZE clusters,we find that the resolved effect is insignificant when estimating the expected yield of the SZE cluster surveys.     

A possible precessing nozzle and the Lense-Thirring effect inblazar 3C 454.3

The kinematics of superluminal components in blazar 3C 454.3 are studied.Nine components are included： superluminal knots R1, R2, R3, R4, A, B, C and D（from Britzen et al. 2013） and C4 （from Pauliny-Toth 1998）. We find that their kine-matics derived from VLBI observations can be consistently interpreted in terms of ajet precession scenario with a period of about 14.5 yr. We discuss the model fits oftheir trajectory, distance from the core and apparent velocity. We show that the bulkLorentz factor （in the range 4 to 15） derived for these components does not have anydependence on the phase of the precession （or position angle for ejection）. The Lense-Thirring effect is assumed to interpret the precession of the jet nozzle. The resultsobtained for blazar 3C 454.3 are only suggestive. They are not unique and have yet tobe tested, but they might be useful for understanding the kinematics of superluminalcomponents in blazars and for disentangling different mechanisms and factors.     

Multifrequency Polarization Variations in the Quasar 0917＋624

We present a detailed analysis of multi-frequency observations of linear polarization in the intraday variable quasar 0917+624 (z = 1.44). The observations were made in May 1989 at five frequencies (1.4, 2.7, 5.0, 8.3 and 15GHz) with the VLA and the Effelsberg 100 m-telescope and in December 1988 at two frequencies (2.7 and 5.0 GHz) with the latter. It is shown that the relationship between the variations of the polarized and total flux density is highly wavelength dependent, and the multi-frequency polarization behavior may be essential for investigating the mechanisms causing these variations. It is shown that the variations observed at 20 cm can be interpreted in terms of refractive interstellar scintillation. However, after subtracting the variation due to scintillation, three 'features' emerged in the light-curve of the polarized flux density, indicating an additional variable component. Interestingly, these features are shown to be correlated with the variations at 2-6 cm, thus indicating that thes     

The Variabilities of the Soft and Hard X—ray Components of NGC 7314 and NGC 7582 and the Distribution of Absorbing Matter in Type Ⅱ AGNs

ASCA observations of the two Type Ⅱ AGNs,NGC7314 and NGC 7582,show clear variations in the broad X-ray band(0.4-10keV)on short timescales-10^4s.Spectral analysis indicates that they bot have an absorbed hard X-ray component and an unabsorbed soft“excess” component.To clarify the origin of the latter,we made a cross-correlation analysis of the two components.The results show that,for NGC7314,the soft X-ray variability is proportional to that of the hard X-ray component.This indicates that the active nucleus of NGC 7314 must be partially covered and so the soft emission is a “leaking” of the variable hard component.For NGC 7582,there is no detectable variability in the soft component, although there is a definite one in the hard component.This indicates that the variable nucleus of NGC 7582 must be fully blocked by absorbing matter,and the soft emission is most likely the scattered component predicted by the AGN unified model.     

A Probable Short Decimetric Type I-like Noise Storm：Associated with Type III Bursts？

A rare Type I-like noise storm was observed with the solar radio spectrometers (1.0-2.0 GHz and 2.60-3.8 GHz) at National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) on September 23, 1998. We concentrate on checking the Type I-like noise storm occurred in the decay phase of a Type IV radio burst. This noise storm consists of many Type I bursts and isolated Type Ⅲ or Type Ⅲ pair bursts. It has a bandwidth of ≤ 0.5 GHz. The duration of each Type Ⅰ burst is of the order of 100-300ms. The total duration is greater than 11 minutes. The circular polarization degree of the components of Type Ⅰ and associated Type Ⅲ bursts are about 40%-100% and almost 100%, respectively, which is greater than that of the background continuum (nearly the precision of our instrument). This short decimetric Type I-like storm may be another kind or the extension of the kind of metric Type Ⅰ storm, and may possess the duality of metric and decimetric radio emission. It may be in favor of an earlier emission mechanism of the fundamental plasma radiation due to the coalescence of Langmuir waves with low-frequency waves.     

EVN observations of low-luminosity flat-spectrum active galactic nuclei

We present and discuss the results of very-long baseline interferometry (VLBI, EVN) observations of three low-luminosity     broad emission line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) carefully selected from a sample of flat-spectrum radio sources (CLASS). Based on the total and the extended radio power at 5 and at 1.4 GHz respectively, these objects should be technically classified as radio-quiet AGN and thus the origin of their radio emission is not clearly understood. The VLBI observations presented in this paper have revealed compact radio cores which imply a lower limit on the brightness temperature of about     . This result rules out a thermal origin for the radio emission and strongly suggests an emission mechanism similar to that observed in more powerful radio-loud AGNs. Since, by definition, the three objects show a flat (or inverted) radio spectrum between 1.4 and 8.4 GHz, the observed radio emission could be relativistically beamed. Multi-epoch VLBI observations can confirm this possibility in two years' time.     

Multifrequency VLBI observations of faint gigahertz peaked spectrum sources

We present the data and analysis of VLBI observations at 1.6, 5 and 15 GHz of a sample of faint gigahertz peaked spectrum (GPS) sources selected from the Westerbork Northern Sky Survey. The 5-GHz observations involved a global array of 16 stations and yielded data on the total sample of 47 sources. A subsample of 26 GPS sources with peak frequencies     and/or peak flux densities     was observed with the VLBA at 15 GHz. A second subsample of 29 sources, with     was observed at 1.6 GHz using a 14-station global VLBI array. In this way, 44 of the 47 sources (94 per cent) in the sample were observed above and at or below their spectral peak. Spectral decomposition allowed us to identify three, 11, seven and two objects as compact symmetric objects, compact doubles, core–jet and complex sources, respectively. However, many of the sources classified as compact double or core–jet sources show only two components making their classification rather tentative. This may explain why the strong morphological dichotomy of GPS quasars and galaxies found for radio-bright GPS sources is not as clear in this faint sample.     

VLBA multi-frequency monitoring of SS433

We present results of VLBA observations of SS433 at two epochs at 5, 8.4, and 15 GHz. The AU-scale region of the source is resolved and shows the familiar quasi-symmetric core-jet structures. But at another epoch, the maps show bright knots ejected a few days before the observation, while the core-complex disappeared. The bright jet components are completely depolarised with fractional polarization less than 0.5%. We also present the first VLBI image of SS433 at 22 GHz.     

Space very long baseline interferometry observations of polarization in the jet of 3C 380

A comparison between low-frequency space very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and high-frequency ground-based VLBI images can, in principle, be used to detect small variations in rotation measure (RM) on fine angular scales inaccessible to ground arrays alone. This paper reports an attempt to perform such a comparison using the jet in the quasar 3C 380. Observations made with the VSOP antenna HALCA together with a ground array at wavelength 1.6 GHz provide total intensity and polarization images of comparable resolution to those from the ground array alone at 5 GHz. The results provide an image showing derotated magnetic vector position angle of somewhat higher resolution than that available earlier. The results show variations in an RM around component A of the order of 10 rad m⁻² that could not have been detected with the ground array alone. It is concluded that satellite VLBI observations provide a promising means to study the distribution of matter and magnetic fields around parsec-scale jets.
The ground observations used here follow the steady outward drift of component A, which has approximately doubled its distance from the core since the first observations in 1982. They also reveal total intensity and polarization structure associated with a bright knot 0.7 arcsec from the core which is reminiscent of that expected for a conical shock wave.     

Evidence for cospatial optical and radio polarized emission in active galactic nuclei

We investigate the relationship between the optical and radio emission of active galactic nuclei (AGN) by analysing optical and 15+22+43 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) polarization observations simultaneous to within a day for 11 BL Lacertae (BL Lac) objects and the blazar 3C279. We have determined and corrected for the Faraday rotation measures in the very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) cores, enabling us to compare the intrinsic (zero-wavelength) VLBI-core polarization angles and the optical polarization angles χ_opt. A clear alignment between these two angles emerges in the transition toward higher radio frequencies, and a prominent peak at 0° is visible in the distribution of |χ_opt−χ_43 GHz|. This correlation implies that the magnetic-field orientations in the regions giving rise to the optical and radio polarization are the same, and can be easily understood if the radio and optical polarization are roughly cospatial. It is difficult to rule out the possibility that they arise in different regions in a straight jet with a uniform magnetic-field structure, but this seems less likely, since the VLBI jets of AGN are often bent on parsec-scales. This may suggest that much or all of the strong optical polarization in these sources arises in the inner radio jets, possibly associated with the formation and emergence of compact new VLBI components.     

A VLBI Study of Compact Steep Spectrum Sources 3C43, 3C48 and 3C454

We used the VLBA(NRAO, USA) and made VLBI observations towards the compact steep spectrum sources 3C43, 3C48 and 3C454 at the central frequency 1.6 GHz, and obtained their total flux density maps and information on the structures of their components. By comparison with the previous data, we analyzed the variations of their flux densities as well as the displacements of their components. It is found that the total flux density of the source 3C43, as well as the flux densities and relative positions of its components are quite stable in 14 years. For the source 3C454, the total flux density and the flux densities of its components are also relatively stable, but two of the components moved away from the central core with superluminal velocities of 21.6c and 17.7c. Fitted to their flux densities at 4 L-band frequencies, the spectral indexes of the sources 3C43 and 3C454 were obtained to be 0.63 and 0.86, respectively, in good agreement with previous results, and consistent with the definition of α ≥0.5 for compact steep spectrum sources.     

The role of luminous substructure in the gravitational lens system MG 2016+112

MG 2016+112 is a quadruply imaged lens system with two complete images A and B and a pair of merging partial images in region C as seen in the radio. The merging images are found to violate the expected mirror symmetry. This indicates an astrometric anomaly which could only be of gravitational origin and could arise due to substructure in the environment or line of sight of the lens galaxy. We present new high-resolution multifrequency very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations at 1.7, 5 and 8.4 GHz. Three new components are detected in the new VLBI imaging of both the lensed images A and B. The expected opposite parity of the lensed images A and B was confirmed due to the detection of non-collinear components. Furthermore, the observed properties of the newly detected components are inconsistent with the predictions of previous mass models. We present new scenarios for the background quasar which are consistent with the new observations. We also investigate the role of the satellite galaxy situated at the same redshift as the main lensing galaxy. Our new mass models demonstrate quantitatively that the satellite galaxy is the primary cause of the astrometric anomaly found in region C. The detected satellite is consistent with the abundance of subhaloes expected in the halo from cold dark matter (CDM) simulations. However, the fraction of the total halo mass in the satellite as computed from lens modelling is found to be higher than that predicted by CDM simulations.     

Jet–cloud collisions in the jet of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3079

We report the results from a 6-yr, multi-epoch very long baseline interferometry monitoring of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3079. We have observed NGC 3079 during eight epochs between 1999 and 2005 predominantly at 5 GHz, but covering the frequency range of 1.7 to 22 GHz. Using our data and observations going back to 1985, we find that the separation of two of the three visible nuclear radio components underwent two decelerations. At the time of these decelerations, the flux density of one of the components increased by factors of 5 and 2, respectively. We interpret these events as a radio jet component undergoing compression, possibly as a result of a collision with interstellar medium material. This interpretation strongly supports the existence of jets surrounded by a clumpy medium of dense clouds within the first few parsec from the central engine in NGC 3079. Moreover, based on recently published simulations of jet interactions with clumpy media, this scenario is able to explain the nature of two additional regions of ageing synchrotron material detected at the lower frequencies as by-products of such interactions, and also the origin of the kpc-scale super-bubble observed in NGC 3079 as the result of the spread of the momentum of the jets impeded from propagating freely. The generalization of this scenario provides an explanation why jets in Seyfert galaxies are not able to propagate to scales of kpc as do jets in radio-loud AGN.     

MERLIN polarization observations of compact steep-spectrum sources at 5 GHz

We present polarization observations of 28 compact steep-spectrum sources made with the upgraded MERLIN at 5 GHz. With an angular resolution of 60 milliarcsec and rms noise levels of about 0.1 mJy beam⁻¹, the total intensity images reveal new details in many of these sources. A few of the more extended lobes and jets are quite highly polarized, but more than half of the components are completely unpolarized. Comparison with published data implies that this is due to Faraday depolarization, probably occurring in the surrounding medium with nB  ∼ 1 cm^−3μG. The high resolution of the present observations implies that the variations in Faraday rotation, probably due to magnetic field tangling, occur on scales of less than about 100 pc.