First hints of pressure waves in a helical extragalactic jet: S5~0836+710

TL;DR

This paper presents evidence of pressure waves in the helical jet of quasar S5 0836+710, suggesting the jet's structure is influenced by wave phenomena, with implications for understanding jet physics.

Contribution

It provides observational evidence of wave-like behavior in extragalactic jets, supporting the idea that jet emission peaks are pressure maxima of propagating waves.

Findings

Wave-like motion observed in the jet ridge-line.

Emission peaks correspond to pressure maxima of waves.

Helical structure confirmed as a physical phenomenon.

Abstract

One of the open questions in extragalactic jet Astrophysics is related to the nature of the observed radio jet, namely whether it traces a pattern or the flow structure itself. In this paper I summarize the evidence collected for the presence of waves in extragalactic jets. The evidence points towards the peak of emission in helical jets corresponding to pressure-maxima of a wave that is generated within the core region and propagates downstream. Making use of a number of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of the radio jet in the quasar S5~0836+710 at different frequencies and epochs, Perucho et al. (2012) were able to observe wave-like behavior within the observed radio-jet. The ridge-line of the emission in the jet coincides within the errors at all frequencies. Moreover, small differences between epochs at 15 GHz reveal wave-like motion of the ridge-line transversal to the jet propagation axis. The authors conclude that the helicity is a real, physical structure. I report here on those results and discuss this result in the light of new results recently announced by other authors that confirm the presence of waves in the close-by object BL Lac (Cohen et al., in preparation), and the possible magnetic or hydrodynamic nature.