The Global Jet Structure of the Archetypical Quasar 3C 273

Kazunori Akiyama,Keiichi Asada,Vincent Fish,Masanori Nakamura,Kazuhiro Hada,Colin Lonsdale,Hiroshi Nagai

doi:10.3390/galaxies6010015

Abstract

A key question in the formation of the relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is the collimation process of their energetic plasma flow launched from the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Recent observations of nearby low-luminosity radio galaxies exhibit a clear picture of parabolic collimation inside the Bondi accretion radius. On the other hand, little is known of the observational properties of jet collimation in more luminous quasars, where the accretion flow may be significantly different due to much higher accretion rates. In this paper, we present preliminary results of multi-frequency observations of the archetypal quasar 3C 273 with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 1.4, 15, and 43 GHz, and Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) at 1.6 GHz. The observations provide a detailed view of the transverse structure resolved on a broad range of spatial scales from sub-parsec to kilo parsecs, allowing us to profile the jet width as a function of the distance from the core for the first time in jets of bright quasars. We discovered a transition from a parabolic stream to a conical stream, which has been seen in much lower-luminosity radio galaxies. The similarity in the profile to the much lower-powered radio galaxy M87 suggests the universality of jet collimation among AGNs with different accretion rates.

Highlights

The relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are some of the most energetic persistent plasma outflows in the Universe, which may affect theevolution of their host galaxies and the central super-massive black holes (SMBHs) through kinetic feedback
The jet is terminated in a kpc-scale radio lobe at ∼1 arcsec from the core traced with Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) 1.6 GHz data
This conical streamline and the position angle profile of the kpc-scale jet is smoothly connected to the profile of the inner very long baseline interferometry (VLBI)-scale jet at ∼10–100 mas traced with Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 1.4 GHz and downstream of the jet traced with the VLBA at 15 GHz

Summary

Introduction

The relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are some of the most energetic persistent plasma outflows in the Universe, which may affect the (co-)evolution of their host galaxies and the central super-massive black holes (SMBHs) through kinetic feedback. The radio galaxy M87 shows a clear picture of its jet exhibiting a parabolic profile, implying an active collimation process [2,3,4,5]. This parabolic profile persists up to the peculiar stationary knot HST-1 near the Bondi. The jet structure has been clearly resolved transversely in a broad spatial range from milliarcsecond to arcsecond angular scales (e.g., [10,11]). This makes 3C 273 an ideal source to extend previous efforts on the streamline analysis to more powerful quasar jets. Viewing angle of 3.8 , which is its minimum limit for the viewing angle of 3C 273 (3.8 –7.2◦ ; [12])

Observational Data

Stream Line Analysis

Results and Discussion

Summary