Andrei Lobanov Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie
Einstein’s Legacy: Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology
München Title A. Lobanov
Observational studies of extragalactic relativistic jets
Anatomy of extragalactic jets: – cores – collimation and acceleration scales (~103 RS) – regions dominated by strong shocks (~10 pc) – dissipation of shocks and development of instabilities (~100 pc) – kiloparsec-scale jets Relation between the jets and the nuclear environment in active galaxies: – jets from supermassive binary black hole systems – probing absorbing material in the nucleus – connection to accretion disks and broad-line emission
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Collimated outflows A. Lobanov
• Jets (bipolar outflows) are common.
Range from YSO to QSO, found also in PSR and even on the Sun.
• Generally: bipolar outflows solve the
problem of transporting excess energy and angular momentum from compact, rotating, magnetized objects which accrete external matter
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Anatomy of Jets
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“Cores” of jets A. Lobanov
Location at which jets become visible in radio is most likely
determined solely by τ=1 condition for synchrotron emission
Lobanov & Zensus 1999
Zensus et al. 1995, Lobanov 1996, Klare et al. 2005
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Collimation and acceleration A. Lobanov
Evidence for acceleration and collimation on linear scales
of ~103 RS
Cyg A M 87
230 Rs
Bach et al. 2003
Krichbaum et al. 2005
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Shocks on pc scales A. Lobanov
Strong shocks are clearly present in jets on small scales
(several decaparsecs) – from polarization and distribution of the synchrotron turnover frequency.
3C 273
Carrara et al. 1997
05.03.2024 Extragalactic jets and nuclear region in galaxies 7 Shocks on pc scales A. Lobanov
Shock dissipate rapidly while approaching hectoparsec
scales: shock models can no longer explain kinematic and spectral evolution observed in jets on these scales
Lobanov & Zensus 1999
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Instabilities on pc scales A. Lobanov
Linear regime of K-H instability
λHs=18.0, λEs=12.0, λEb1=4.0, λEb2=1.9
Gj=2.1, Mj=3.5, η=0.02, aj=0.53, vw=0.21
(see poster #64, Perucho et al.) Lobanov & Zensus 2001
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Instabilities on kpc-scales A. Lobanov
On kiloparsec scales, jets are well represented by MHD models;
e.g., models for 3C31 (Laing & Bridle 2002,2004), and M87 (Lobanov, Hardee & Eilek 2003)
HST D E G I A B C
(see also poster #47, Laing et al.)
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Jets from binary SMBH A. Lobanov
Sol, Pelletier, Asséo (1989), Lobanov & Roland (2005)
Magnetically confined outflow from a binary SMBH.
Jet components are produced by perturbations in the beam Explains both evolution of a feature in the jet and optical variability Jet contains information about the dynamic state of the binary
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BBH in 3C345: Observations A. Lobanov
Optical data: 1965- (>2500)
Radio data: 1965- (>3000) VLBI data: 1979- (>280)
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Properties of BBH in 3C345 A. Lobanov
M 1 = 7 ⋅108 M sol , M 2 = 7 ⋅108 M sol
amaj = 0.33pc (0.07 mas), e = 0.1 Porb ≈ 480 years, Pprec ≈ 2500 years
(Lobanov & Roland 2004)
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Disk variability and flares A. Lobanov
Flares and ejections of new jet components in 3C345 may
be related to the characterstic instability timescales in the disk at 20-200 Rg
Lobanov & Roland 2005
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Nuclear absorption A. Lobanov
Absorption due to several species, most notably HI, CO,
OH, HCO+ HI absorption toward compact jets is an excellent tool to probe nuclear regions on parsec scales. Good indicator of physical conditions of the neutral gas(Pedlar 2004)
NGC 4151
0.6pc
Mundell et al. 2003
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Nuclear absorption A. Lobanov
1946+708: Absorption probed on scales of ~100pc; broad (200km/s) and
narrow (50km/s) – likely from a gas in a rotating toroidal structure.
Peck & Taylor 2001
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Nuclear opacity: Core shift A. Lobanov
Position offset of the optically
thick „core“ of a VLBI jet can be used to estimate physical conditions in the nuclear region of AGN
Core location: (Königl 1981)
Core offset measure:
Derived magnetic field and distance from
the central engine to the core:
Lobanov 1998
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Physics from the core shift A. Lobanov
Pressure and density profile in the
broad-line regions; magnetic field distributions in compact jets
3C345 Lobanov 1998
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Disk-Jet Connection: 3C120 A. Lobanov
(Marscher et al. 2002)
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Jet-BLR connection A. Lobanov
BLRG 3C390.3: jet can produce a large fraction of non-thermal continuum
Optical maxima correlate with the passages of relativistic plasma through S1 An X-ray minimum is found close to the ejection epochs of C5 and C6
Arshakian et al. 2005
(see poster #3, Arshakian et al.) 05.03.2024 Extragalactic jets and nuclear region in galaxies 21 Jet-BLR connection A. Lobanov
It looks like the jet in 3C390.3powers a BLR associated with
a subrelativistic outflow from the nucleus. Relativistic jet Subrelativistic outflow
VLBI “core” BLR 2 (outflow)
Corona BLR 1 (disk)
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Summary A. Lobanov
Jet studies is an excellent laboratory for
Small scale jets are dominated by shocks At larger scales, shocks dissipate, and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability determines the structure and dynamics of the flow Elliptical and helical modes of K-H instability are most prominent. Magnetically confined outflows may preserve information about the dynamic evolution of the nucleus Jets can be used as probes of nuclear regions in AGN Jet-BLR connection may exist and should be investigated in detail.
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