Resolving the inner jet structure of 1924-292 with the EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE

TL;DR

This paper presents the first 1.3 mm VLBI model image of an AGN jet, resolving the inner jet structure of quasar 1924-292 with improved resolution and closure phase techniques, advancing the Event Horizon Telescope's imaging capabilities.

Contribution

First 1.3 mm VLBI model image of an AGN jet using closure phase with a four-element array, resolving the inner jet structure of 1924-292.

Findings

Inner jet extends northwest at -53° to 0.38 mas from core

Core size is 0.15 pc with brightness temperature 1.2×10^{11} K

Closure phase measurement enables future imaging of Sgr A* and nearby AGN

Abstract

We present the first 1.3 mm (230 GHz) very long baseline interferometry model image of an AGN jet using closure phase techniques with a four-element array. The model image of the quasar 1924-292 was obtained with four telescopes at three observatories: the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the Arizona Radio Observatory's Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) in Arizona, and two telescopes of the Combined Array for Research in Millimeterwave Astronomy (CARMA) in California in April 2009. With the greatly improved resolution compared with previous observations and robust closure phase measurement, the inner jet structure of 1924-292 was spatially resolved. The inner jet extends to the northwest along a position angle of $-53^\circ$ at a distance of 0.38\,mas from the tentatively identified core, in agreement with the inner jet structure inferred from lower frequencies, and making a position angle difference of $\sim 80^{\circ}$ with respect to the cm-jet. The size of the compact core is 0.15\,pc with a brightness temperature of $1.2\times10^{11}$\,K. Compared with those measured at lower frequencies, the low brightness temperature may argue in favor of the decelerating jet model or particle-cascade models. The successful measurement of closure phase paves the way for imaging and time resolving Sgr A* and nearby AGN with the Event Horizon Telescope.