High-Redshift Quasars at the Highest Resolution: VSOP Results

TL;DR

This study used Space VLBI to observe high-redshift quasars at unprecedented resolution, revealing insights into their black hole masses, jet structures, and superluminal motions at high frequencies.

Contribution

First high-resolution Space VLBI observations of z>3 quasars at rest-frame frequencies up to 25 GHz, providing new data on their structure and dynamics.

Findings

Estimated black hole masses in distant quasars.

Detected large misalignments in radio structures.

Observed apparent superluminal motion.

Abstract

We studied the radio structure of high-redshift (z>3) quasars with VSOP at 1.6 and 5 GHz. These sources are the most distant objects ever observed with Space VLBI, at rest-frame frequencies up to ~25 GHz. Here we give an account of the observations and briefly highlight the most interesting cases and results. These observations allowed us, among other things, to estimate the mass of the central black holes powering these quasars, to identify large misalignments between the milli-arcsecond (mas) and sub-mas scale radio structures, and to detect apparent superluminal motion at sub-mas scale.