百秒差距尺度上的4C39.25

通过主要在短厘米波长的全球VLBI观测,已经发现强射电类星体4C39.25在十秒差距尺度结构中的视超光速运动,其运动学图景表明该源是一个很特殊的视超光速源.近几年已提出了若干模型,试图解释这特殊的运动图景.报道不多的百秒差距尺度的VLBI观测,很可能有助于检验提出的模型.本文介绍用欧洲网及上海25m天线,在18cm波长对4C39.25所作的VLBI 成象观测的初步结果,显示百秒差距尺度复杂结构及可能存在的视超光速运动.     

VLBI与视超光速源——(Ⅱ)观测特征和理论探讨

作为上一篇文章的继续,本文从总结迄今已探测到的视超光速源的一般特征出发,简要地讨论了视超光速源在活动星系核分类研究中的地位;并综述了较普遍接受的对于视超光速源的一些理论探讨。文章的最后简述了目前对视超光速源观测的问题和前景。     

VLBI与视超光速源——(Ⅰ)观测手段与结果

类星体和活动星系核结构的变化及其中的视超光速运动,被认为是用VLBI方法所揭示的最重大的天体物理现象之一。十余年来积累了大量观测资料,迄今已经观测证实了不少于25个视超光速源,更广泛的监测和搜寻计划正在进行中。 本文从观测手段和结果两个方面,综述对视超光速源探测的方法及现状。在另一篇文章中将总结视超光速源的观测特征,以及为解释这些特征所作的有代表性而又较广为接受的理论探讨。     

视超光速源3C345中节点C4的内禀变化

本文利用新的相对论理论模型研究了视超光速源3C345中节点C4的内禀变化。     

类星体3C345中的VLBI核心在运动吗?

在视超光速源3C345(类星体)中,有5个VLBI节点被观测到有视超光速运动,特别是其中靠近核心的两个节点C_4和C_5沿着不同的弯曲轨道运动.本文考虑这种双轨道运动是由于射电核心运动造成的可能性.利用现有资料,把观测到的C_4和C_5的运动,分解成射电核心的运动和它们沿着一条共同的轨道运动.结果表明,这种分解可以很好地拟合现有关于节点C_4和C_5的观测结果.对进一步的观测检验和模型的物理涵义作了扼要的讨论。     

视超光速运动的相对论超光速模型

从相对论出发，在视超光速源质心相对于观测静止的条件下，推导出两个向相反方向运动的视超光速子源之间的视速度方程，这一方程包含了相对论射束模型的表观横向速度公式，且对高，低速不同条件均为适用。     

视超光速候选源0208-512和2243-123

本文叙述南天区５ＧＨｚＶＬＢＩ普查的第二轮观测中所发现的视超光速候选源,０２０８－５１２和２２４３－１２３,这些结果尚待进一步的观测加以证实．     

百秒差距尺度上的4C39.25

通过主要在短厘米波长的全球ＶＬＢＩ观测，已经现强射电类星体４Ｃ３９．２５在十秒差距尺度结构中的视超光速运动，其运动学图景表明该源是一个很特殊的视超光速源，近几年已提出了若干模型，试图解释这特殊的运动图景，报道不多的百秒差距尺度的ＶＬＢＩ观测，很可能有助于检验提出的模型，本文介绍用欧洲网及上海２５ｍ天线，在１８ｃｍ波长对４Ｃ３９．２５所作的ＶＬＢＩ成象观测的初步结果，显示秒差距尺度复杂结构及可能存在     

视超光速源的统计分析

本文收集了视超光速源样本的有关观测数据，在同步加速自康普顿散射机制下导出了各源的多普勒因子，再利用视超光速源的相对论射束模型计算样本源的有关物理量，如射电光度和亮温度，并与它们的观测值作直接的比较，得到较好的相关结果。这些结果支持了活动星系核中具有相对论射束运动的假设。同时我们比较了样本源的射电、光学、Ｘ射线的发现它们之间有一定的相关性，说明在不同波段上的辐射机制可能存在某种联系。     

致密陡谱源3C43、3C48和3C454的VLBI研究

利用美国甚长基线阵对3个致密陡谱源3C43、3C48和3C454进行中心频率1.6GHz的观测,获得总流量图和各个子源的结构等信息.对比已有的数据,分析源3C43和3C454的流量变化和各个子源的位置移动,发现3C43的总流量、各子源流量、各子源的相对位置在14年内比较稳定;3C454的总流量和各子源流量也比较稳定,但两个子源相对核心的偏离速度分别是光速的21.6和17.7倍,存在明显的视超光速现象.同时通过对L波段4个频率的总流量结果进行谱指数拟合,获得源3C43和3C454的谱指数分别是0.63和0.86,符合致密陡谱源谱指数α≥0.5的定义,也与已有的结果吻合较好.     

Peculiarities of 3C 454.3 as a superluminal source

This paper begins with a brief summary of the superluminal sources discovered so far. For one of the sources, the quasar 3C 454.3, the main observed results with VLBI at many frequencies and many epochs are then presented. The peculiarities of 3C 454.3 in relation to the general properties of the other superluminal sources are highlighted by means of a comparative table. Lastly, a preliminary discussion on possible explanations for the peculiarities is given.

This paper can be regarded as a supplement to the reports [12, 13] on the observations of 3C 454.3     

A possible precessing nozzle and the Lense-Thirring effect in blazar 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 kinematics derived from VLBI observations can be consistently interpreted in terms of a jet precession scenario with a period of about 14.5 yr.We discuss the model fits of their trajectory,distance from the core and apparent velocity.We show that the bulk Lorentz factor(in the range 4 to 15) derived for these components does not have any dependence on the phase of the precession(or position angle for ejection).The LenseThirring effect is assumed to interpret the precession of the jet nozzle.The results obtained for blazar 3C 454.3 are only suggestive.They are not unique and have yet to be tested,but they might be useful for understanding the kinematics of superluminal components in blazars and for disentangling different mechanisms and factors.     

Is the VLBI core of 3C 345 moving?

In the superluminal source quasar 3C 345, five VLBI knots have been observed to have superluminal motion and, in particular, the two knots C₄ and C₅ move along different curved orbits. This paper examines the possibility that this pair of orbits are due to the motion of the radio core. Using the available data, the motions of C₄ and C₅ are resolved as a superposition of a motion of the core and a motion along a common orbit. The results show that such a resolution can fit well the observations. A brief discussion is made on further test of the model and its physical implications.     

在6厘米波长对类星体3C454.3的九站VLBI观测

3C454.3是近几年引起广泛注意的一个强活动射电类星体,它有毫角秒尺度的核——喷流结构,其核在1981年的一次流量密度大爆发之后,显示出“超光速增亮”现象,在6厘米波长,用包括欧洲、美国及南非的9个射电望远镜,于1983年10月对3C454.3进行了甚长基线干涉网观测。观测结果除了证实其核——喷流结构,显示了从毫角秒到角秒尺度上该类星体结构的系统弯曲外,还清楚地揭示了“超光速增亮”所预期的,在1981年8月到1983年1月期间,核的超光速膨胀现象。     

Superluminal motion in the parsec-scale jet in 3C 380

We present extensive multi-epoch VLBI observations of the quasar 3C 380 which reveal a bent parsec-scale radio jet with complex substructure which exhibits superluminal motion out to ∼100 pc from the active core. The general characteristics of the jet and its motion are similar to those in several other well-studied superluminal sources, most notably a rapid increase in the opening angle at a projected distance of a few tens of parsecs from the core and apparent acceleration along the jet. This acceleration could be a simple kinematic effect associated with bulk flow at a constant speed, but at a varying angle to the line of sight. The jet is well resolved in the transverse direction for the majority of its length and resembles numerical simulations of a jet disrupted by the rapid growth of sinusoidal 'Kelvin–Helmholtz' modes. Our maps also reveal extremely rapid localized variations in brightness which have not yet been seen in other nuclear jets. We suggest that phase effects, arising from the intersection of oblique shocks, may be the cause of these dramatic changes. 3C 380 is often classified as a compact steep spectrum (CSS) source; however, in contrast to the majority of CSS sources, it is likely that 3C 380 is simply a powerful FRII source seen approximately end-on.     

e-VLBI observations of GRB 080409 afterglow with an Australasian radio telescope network

Transcontinental e-VLBI observations were conducted in June 2008 with telescopes in Australia,China and Japan. Detections were made of the radio-loud quasar PKS B0727-115, which shows superluminal motion, and the intra-day variable quasar PKS B0524+034. The latter source was used as a phase reference calibrator for observations at the position of the gamma-ray burst GRB 080409, for which an upper limit to the radio emission is set. Australia Telescope Compact Array data were also used to derive a limit on the radio flux density of the GRB afterglow. These observations demonstrate the capability to form a large Australasian radio telescope network for e-VLBI, with data transported and processed in realtime over high capacity networks. This campaign represents the first step towards more regular e-VLBI observations in this region.     

On the evolution of the cosmic supernova rates

The Galactic radio-emitting X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 is known to be a source of large-scale radio jets associated with periods of intense radio flaring. These jets have been found to have an expansion velocity of ∼0.3 c and are believed (on kinematic grounds) to lie close to the plane of the sky. We present new observations of Cygnus X-3 using the VLBA at 15 GHz. These observations, which included the detection of two small flares, show an additional kind of behaviour with apparent superluminal expansion along both major and minor axes. Evidence for superluminal activity has been found in a number of X-ray binary systems such as GRS 1915+105 and GRO J1655−40 with their superluminal radio jets. Apparently similar morphologies of the Galactic and extragalactic jet sources have led to the X-ray binaries being described as 'micro-quasars'. The superluminal expansion seen in our results appears to be different in nature from these other two sources, and a number of mechanisms are presented and discussed.     

The quasar fraction in low-frequency-selected complete samples and implications for unified schemes

Low-frequency radio surveys are ideal for selecting orientation-independent samples of extragalactic sources because the sample members are selected by virtue of their isotropic steep-spectrum extended emission. We use the new 7C Redshift Survey along with the brighter 3CRR and 6C samples to investigate the fraction of objects with observed broad emission lines – the 'quasar fraction'– as a function of redshift and of radio and narrow-emission-line luminosity. We find that the quasar fraction is more strongly dependent upon luminosity (both narrow-line and radio) than it is on redshift. Above a narrow [O  ii ] emission-line luminosity of log₁₀( L _{[O  ii ]}/W)≳35 [or radio luminosity log₁₀( L ₁₅₁/W Hz⁻¹ sr⁻¹)≳ 26.5], the quasar fraction is virtually independent of redshift and luminosity; this is consistent with a simple unified scheme with an obscuring torus with a half-opening angle θ _trans≈53°. For objects with less luminous narrow lines, the quasar fraction is lower. We show that this is not due to the difficulty of detecting lower luminosity broad emission lines in a less luminous, but otherwise similar, quasar population. We discuss evidence which supports at least two probable physical causes for the drop in quasar fraction at low luminosity: (i) a gradual decrease in θ _trans and/or a gradual increase in the fraction of lightly reddened (0≲ A _V ≲5) lines of sight with decreasing quasar luminosity; and (ii) the emergence of a distinct second population of low-luminosity radio sources which, like M87, lack a well-fed quasar nucleus and may well lack a thick obscuring torus.     

Apparent superluminal expansion in a quasar neutrino halo

We deduce the apparent velocity formula of general relativity for a source moving in a spherical neutrino halo and show that, considering gravitational effects on the motion of photons, the neutrino halo around a quasar may cause apparent superluminal phenomena. Sample calculations illustrating this result are shown.