Jet precession in the active nucleus of M81. Ongoing VLBI monitoring

TL;DR

This paper reports on VLBI observations of the M81 galaxy's active nucleus, revealing jet precession and flux variations, with ongoing follow-up studies to refine the precession model.

Contribution

It presents new VLBI data phase-referenced to a different supernova, enhancing understanding of jet precession in M81's AGN.

Findings

Evidence of jet precession in M81's AGN

Flux density variations correlated with jet orientation

Preliminary results support the precession model

Abstract

In a recent publication, we reported results of a multi-frequency VLBI campaign of observations of the Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) in galaxy M\,81, phase-referenced to the supernova SN\,1993J. We were able to extract precise information on the relative astrometry of the AGN radio emission at different epochs and frequencies. We found strong evidence of precession in the AGN jet (i.e., a systematic evolution in the jet inclination at each frequency) coupled to changes in the overall flux density at the different frequencies. In these proceedings, we summarise the main contents of our previous publication and we report on (preliminary) new results from our follow-up VLBI observations, now phase-referenced to the young supernova SN2008iz. We also briefly discuss how these results match the picture of our previously-reported precession model.