Vlbi Observations of the Compact Components in M82

Abstract

The nearby IrrII galaxy M82 (3C 231, NGC3034) is known to have a complex, very elongated radio brightness distribution in the central region of the galaxy (e.g., Kronberg and Wilkinson 1975). Because of the galaxy’s proximity (distance ~ 3.3 Mpc; Tammann and Sandage 1968), the brightness distribution can be investigated in considerable detail. Recently Unger et al. (1984) and Kronberg, Biermann, and Schwab (1985; see also Kronberg 1986) distinguished about 20 compact components in the central region, most of them unresolved with an upper limit on their angular sizes of ~ 150 mas corresponding to an upper limit on their linear sizes of ~ 2 pc. About half of the components were observed at more than one frequency and at several epochs and were found typically to have steep spectra between 5 and 15 GHz and (Kronberg and Sramek 1985) slowly decreasing flux densities.