* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: MOJAVE Jet Movies

Blobrana · L

These MPEG movies are linearly interpolated animations of the parsec-scale jet evolution in the MOJAVE AGN sample from 2002 to 2006. In the total intensity movies (click on a source image), the pseudocolours represent 15 GHz total intensity. In the linear polarization movies (click on a source name), the pseudocolours represent fractional linear polarization, and are superimposed on total intensity contours. The sticks represent electric polarization vectors, and are superimposed on linearly polarised intensity contours plus a single lowest total intensity contour. The full-width half-maximum interferometric restoring beam dimensions are represented by the cross at the lower left of the images.
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Blobrana · L

Astronomers have known for decades that supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies can shoot out jets of subatomic particles at tremendous speeds. However, details about the physics of such jets, including how they are generated, how the high-speed flows are shaped into jets, and how fast the particles are moving, among many others, have remained elusive.
An international team of researchers now is making an unprecedented long-term study of the motions of these giant jets, using the super-sharp imaging capabilities of the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).

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-- Edited by Blobrana at 14:24, 2008-01-09