MOJAVE: Monitoring of Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei with VLBA Experiments. VI. Kinematics Analysis of a Complete Sample of Blazar Jets

doi:10.1088/0004-6256/138/6/1874

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M. L. Lister et al. 2009 The Astronomical Journal 138 1874 doi:10.1088/0004-6256/138/6/1874

MOJAVE: MONITORING OF JETS IN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI WITH VLBA EXPERIMENTS. VI. KINEMATICS ANALYSIS OF A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF BLAZAR JETS

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M. L. Lister¹, M. H. Cohen², D. C. Homan³, M. Kadler^4,5,6,7, K. I. Kellermann⁸, Y. Y. Kovalev^9,10, E. Ros^11,9, T. Savolainen⁹ and J. A. Zensus⁹

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mlister@purdue.edu mhc@astro.caltech.edu homand@denison.edu matthias.kadler@sternwarte.uni-erlangen.de kkellerm@nrao.edu ykovalev@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de tsavolainen@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de azensus@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de Eduardo.Ros@uv.es

¹ Department of Physics, Purdue University, 525 Northwestern Avenue, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
² Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Mail Stop 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Denison University, Granville, OH 43023, USA
⁴ Dr. Remeis-Sternwarte Bamberg, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Sternwartstrasse 7, 96049 Bamberg, Germany
⁵ Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Erwin-Rommel Str. 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
⁶ CRESST/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
⁷ Universities Space Research Association, 10211 Wincopin Circle, Suite 500 Columbia, MD 21044, USA
⁸ National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2475, USA
⁹ Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
¹⁰ Astro Space Center of Lebedev Physical Institute, Profsoyuznaya 84/32, 117997 Moscow, Russia
¹¹ Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica, Universitat de València, E-46100 Burjassot, València, Spain

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Abstract References Cited By

We discuss the jet kinematics of a complete flux-density-limited sample of 135 radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) resulting from a 13 year program to investigate the structure and evolution of parsec-scale jet phenomena. Our analysis is based on new 2 cm Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) images obtained between 2002 and 2007, but includes our previously published observations made at the same wavelength, and is supplemented by VLBA archive data. In all, we have used 2424 images spanning the years 1994-2007 to study and determine the motions of 526 separate jet features in 127 jets. The data quality and temporal coverage (a median of 15 epochs per source) of this complete AGN jet sample represent a significant advance over previous kinematics surveys. In all but five AGNs, the jets appear one-sided, most likely the result of differential Doppler boosting. In general, the observed motions are directed along the jet ridge line, outward from the optically thick core feature. We directly observe changes in speed and/or direction in one third of the well-sampled jet components in our survey. While there is some spread in the apparent speeds of separate features within an individual jet, the dispersion is about three times smaller than the overall dispersion of speeds among all jets. This supports the idea that there is a characteristic flow that describes each jet, which we have characterized by the fastest observed component speed. The observed maximum speed distribution is peaked at ~10c, with a tail that extends out to ~50c. This requires a distribution of intrinsic Lorentz factors in the parent population that range up to ~50. We also note the presence of some rare low-pattern speeds or even stationary features in otherwise rapidly flowing jets that may be the result of standing re-collimation shocks, and/or a complex geometry and highly favorable Doppler factor.

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MOJAVE: MONITORING OF JETS IN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI WITH VLBA EXPERIMENTS. VI. KINEMATICS ANALYSIS OF A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF BLAZAR JETS

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