Multi-Wavelength Polarimetry and Spectral Study of M87 Jet During 2002-2008

TL;DR

This study provides high-resolution, multi-wavelength polarimetric and spectral observations of the M87 jet from 2002 to 2008, revealing complex magnetic structures, flux variations, and helical features that inform models of jet physics.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed multi-wavelength polarimetric analysis of M87's jet at sub-arcsecond resolution over several years, exploring temporal and structural variations.

Findings

Detection of helical polarization structures in the jet

Correlation of flux and polarization maxima with jet features

Support for spine-sheath and recollimation shock models

Abstract

We present a multi-wavelength polarimetric and spectral study of M87 jet obtained at sub- arcsecond resolution between 2002 and 2008. The observations include multi-band archival VLA polarimetry data sets along with the HST imaging polarimetry. These observations have better angular resolution than previous work by factors of 2-3 and in addition, allow us to explore the time domain. These observations envelope the huge flare in HST-1 located at 0."86 from the nucleus (Cheung et al. 2007; Harris et al. 2009; Madrid 2009; Perlman et al. 2011). The increased resolution enables us to view more structure in each knot, showing several resolved sub-components. We also see apparent helical structure in the polarization vectors in several knots, with polarization vectors turning either clockwise or counterclockwise near the flux maxima in various places as well as show filamentary undulations. Some of these characteristics are correlated with flux and polarization maxima while others are not. We also examine the total flux and fractional polarization and look for changes in both radio and optical since the observations of Perlman et al. (1999) and test them against various models based on shocks and instabilities in the jet. Our results are broadly consistent with previous spine-sheath models and recollimation shock models, however, they require additional combinations of features to explain the observed complexity, e.g. shearing of magnetic field lines near the jet surface and compression of the toroidal component near shocks. In particular, in many regions we find apparently helical features both in total flux and polarization. We discuss the physical interpretation of these features.