The Fastest Relativistic Jets: VLBA Observations of Blazars with Apparent Speeds Exceeding 25c
http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0511664

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0511664

From: B. Glenn Piner [view email]
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 21:22:02 GMT (169kb)

The Fastest Relativistic Jets: VLBA Observations of Blazars with Apparent Speeds Exceeding 25c

Authors: B. G. Piner, D. Bhattarai, P. G. Edwards, D. L. Jones
Comments: Accepted to ApJ, 8 pages, 1 color figure

We have measured peak apparent speeds of 25.6 +/- 7.0c, 25.6 +/-
4.4c, and 28.2 +/- 6.6c in the jets of 0235+164, 0827+243, and
1406-076, respectively, based on six epochs of high-sensitivity VLBA
observations at 22 and 43 GHz during 2002 and 2003 (H_{0}=71 km/(s
Mpc), Omega_{m}=0.27, and Omega_{Lambda}=0.73). These blazars had
been identified as potentially having apparent speeds exceeding 40c
in an earlier VLBA survey of EGRET blazars by Jorstad et al. We
therefore confirm (with high confidence in 0827+243, and lower
confidence in 0235+164 and 1406-076) the presence of highly
relativistic pattern speeds in these three jets, although not at the

40c levels reported by Jorstad et al. The lower limit to the bulk

Lorentz factor implied by the observed apparent speeds is Gamma>25-30
in these three sources, if the pattern speeds are equal to or slower
than the bulk flow speed.

See: http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0511664
http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0511664