Juan-Carlos Algaba

INTERFEROMETRIC MONITORING OF GAMMA–RAY BRIGHT ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI II: FREQUENCY PHASE TRANSFER

The Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma–ray Bright Active galactic nuclei (iMOGABA) program provides not only simultaneous multifrequency observations of bright gamma–ray detected active galactic nuclei (AGN), but also covers the highest Very Large Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) frequencies ever being systematically monitored, up to 129 GHz. However, observation and imaging of weak sources at the highest observed frequencies is very challenging. In the second paper in this series, we evaluate the viability of the frequency phase transfer technique to iMOGABA in order to obtain larger coherence time at the higher frequencies of this program (86 and 129 GHz) and image additional sources that were not detected using standard techniques. We find that this method is applicable to the iMOGABA program even under non–optimal weather conditions.

THE AUTOMATIC CALIBRATION OF KOREAN VLBI NETWORK DATA

The calibration of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) data has long been a time consuming process. The Korean VLBI Network (KVN) is a simple array consisting of three identical antennas. Because four frequencies are observed simultaneously, phase solutions can be transferred from lower frequencies to higher frequencies in order to improve phase coherence and hence sensitivity at higher frequencies. Due to the homogeneous nature of the array, the KVN is also well suited for automatic calibration. In this paper we describe the automatic calibration of single-polarisation KVN data using the KVN Pipeline and comparing the results against VLBI data that has been manually reduced. We find that the pipelined data using phase transfer produces better results than a manually reduced dataset not using the phase transfer. Additionally we compared the pipeline results with a manually reduced phase-transferred dataset and found the results to be identical.

Pilot KaVA monitoring on the M 87 jet: Confirming the inner jet structure and superluminal motions at sub-pc scales

We report the initial results of our high-cadence monitoring program on the radio jet in the active galaxy M87, obtained by the KVN and VERA Array (KaVA) at 22 GHz. This is a pilot study that preceded a larger KaVA-M87 monitoring program, which is currently ongoing. The pilot monitoring was mostly performed every two to three weeks from December 2013 to June 2014, at a recording rate of 1 Gbps, obtaining the data for a total of 10 epochs. We successfully obtained a sequence of good quality radio maps that revealed the rich structure of this jet from <~1 mas to 20 mas, corresponding to physical scales (projected) of ~0.1-2 pc (or ~140-2800 Schwarzschild radii). We detected superluminal motions at these scales, together with a trend of gradual acceleration. The first evidence for such fast motions and acceleration near the jet base were obtained from recent VLBA studies at 43 GHz, and the fact that very similar kinematics are seen at a different frequency and time with a different instrument suggests these properties are fundamental characteristics of this jet. This pilot program demonstrates that KaVA is a powerful VLBI array for studying the detailed structural evolution of the M87 jet and also other relativistic jets.

RESOLVING THE GEOMETRY OF THE INNERMOST RELATIVISTIC JETS IN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

In the current paradigm, it is believed that the compact VLBI radio core of radio-loud AGNs represents the innermost upstream regions of relativistic outflows. These regions of AGN jets have generally been modeled by a conical outflow with roughly constant opening angle and flow speed. Nonetheless, some works suggest that a parabolic geometry would be more appropriate to fit the high energy spectral energy distribution properties and it has been recently found that, at least in some nearby radio-galaxies, the geometry of the innermost regions of the jet is parabolic. We compile here multi-frequency core sizes of archival data to investigate the typically unresolved upstream regions of the jet geometry of a sample of 56 radio-loud AGNs. Data combined from the sources considered here is not consistent with the classic picture of a conical jet starting in the vicinity of the super-massive black hole (SMBH), and may exclude a pure parabolic outflow solution, but rather suggest an intermediate solution with quasi-parabolic streams, which are frequently seen in numerical simulations. Inspection of the large opening angles near the SMBH and the range of the Lorentz factors derived from our results support our analyses. Our result suggests that the conical jet paradigm in AGNs needs to be re-examined by mm/sub-mm VLBI observations.

INTERFEROMETRIC MONITORING OF GAMMA-RAY BRIGHT AGNs. I. THE RESULTS OF SINGLE-EPOCH MULTIFREQUENCY OBSERVATIONS

We present results of single-epoch very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of gamma-ray bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) at 22, 43, 86, and 129~GHz bands, which are part of a KVN key science program, Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma-ray Bright AGNs (iMOGABA). We selected a total of 34 radio-loud AGNs of which 30 sources are gamma-ray bright AGNs with flux densities of

STRUCTURAL TRANSITION IN THE NGC 6251 JET: AN INTERPLAY WITH THE SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE AND ITS HOST GALAXY

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Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma-Ray Bright AGNs: S5 0716+714

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Revealing the Nature of Blazar Radio Cores through Multi-Frequency Polarization Observations with the Korean VLBI Network

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Exploring the Variability of the Flat-spectrum Radio Source 1633+382. II. Physical Properties

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Parabolic Jets from the Spinning Black Hole in M87.

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