A refined method for measuring jet speeds
The flux density ratio of corresponding jet knots on opposite sides of the nucleus is often used in quasar and microquasar systems to determine the product of the jet speed β and the cosine of the angle between the jet axis and the line of sight, cos θ. For this determination to be accurate, and owi...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference item |
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2005
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| Summary: | The flux density ratio of corresponding jet knots on opposite sides of the nucleus is often used in quasar and microquasar systems to determine the product of the jet speed β and the cosine of the angle between the jet axis and the line of sight, cos θ. For this determination to be accurate, and owing to the changing intensities of the jet knots with time, this flux density ratio must be measured when the knots are at equal angular separation from the core. We present a refined formalism which enables the flux density ratio of corresponding knots from a single image to be used to determine the value β cos θ in the case of adiabatically-expanding, optically-thin, synchrotron-emitting jet knots. © 2005 American Institute of Physics. |
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