VSOP imaging of S5 0836+710: a close-up on plasma instabilities in the jet

TL;DR

This study uses VSOP imaging to analyze the jet structure of the high-redshift quasar S5 0836+710, revealing plasma instabilities and Kelvin-Helmholtz phenomena in a relativistic outflow.

Contribution

It demonstrates that space baselines alone can reliably recover jet structures and models jet curvature as Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in a relativistic jet.

Findings

Space baselines suffice for reliable source structure recovery.

Jet curvature explained by Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities.

Jet dynamics consistent with variable apparent speeds.

Abstract

The luminous high-redshift (z=2.17) quasar S5 0836+710 has been observed at 5GHz with the VSOP. We compare the properties of three images obtained from the observation: a low-resolution ground array image (dynamic range 4600:1), a full-resolution VSOP image (900:1), and an image made with only the space baselines (200:1). The space baselines alone are sufficient for a reliable recovery of the source structure, within the limits of the achieved spatial sampling of the visibility data. The curved jet ridge line observed in the images can be described by Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities developing in a relativistic outflow with the Mach number of about 6. This description holds on the scales of up to 700h^-1 pc, and is shown to be consistent with variable apparent speeds observed in the jet.