J/ApJ/923/30 MOJAVE. XVIII. Bright radio-loud active AGNs (Lister+, 2021)
Monitoring Of Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei with VLBA Experiments.
XVIII. Kinematics and inner jet evolution of bright radio-loud active galaxies.
Lister M.L., Homan D.C., Kellermann K.I., Kovalev Y.Y., Pushkarev A.B.,
Ros E., Savolainen T.
<Astrophys. J., 923, 30 (2021)>
=2021ApJ...923...30L 2021ApJ...923...30L
ADC_Keywords: Active gal. nuclei; Galaxies, radio; Redshifts; Optical;
Gamma rays
Keywords: Active galactic nuclei ; BL Lacertae objects ; Gamma-ray sources ;
Radio galaxies ; Radio jets ; Quasars
Abstract:
We have analyzed the parsec-scale jet kinematics of 447 bright
radio-loud active active galactic nuclei (AGN), based on 15GHz Very
Long Baseline Array (VLBA) data obtained between 1994 August 31 and
2019 August 4. We present new total intensity and linear polarization
maps obtained between 2017 January 1 and 2019 August 4 for 143 of
these AGN. We tracked 1923 bright features for five or more epochs in
419 jets. The majority (60%) of the well-sampled jet features show
either accelerated or nonradial motion. In 47 jets there is at least
one nonaccelerating feature with an unusually slow apparent speed.
Most of the jets show variations of 10°-50° in their inner jet
position angle (PA) over time, although the overall distribution has a
continuous tail out to 200°. AGN with spectral energy
distributions peaked at lower frequencies tend to have more variable
PAs, with BL Lac objects being less variable than quasars. The Fermi
Large Area Telescope (LAT) gamma-ray-associated AGN also tend to have
more variable PAs than the non-LAT AGN in our sample. We attribute
these trends to smaller viewing angles for the lower spectral peaked
and LAT-associated jets. We identified 13 AGN where multiple features
emerge over decade-long periods at systematically increasing or
decreasing PAs. Since the ejected features do not fill the entire jet
cross section, this behavior is indicative of a precessing flow
instability near the jet base. Although some jets show indications of
oscillatory PA evolution, we claim no bona fide cases of periodicity
since the fitted periods are comparable to the total VLBA time coverage.
Description:
As of 2021, the Monitoring Of Jets in AGN with VLBA Experiments
(MOJAVE) data archive consists of nearly ten thousand 15GHz (2cm)
VLBA observations of over 500 AGN dating back to 1994, obtained as
part of the 2cm VLBA survey (Kellermann+ 1998AJ....115.1295K 1998AJ....115.1295K), the
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) archive, and the MOJAVE
program.
Here we present new 15GHz VLBA maps of 143 AGN obtained between
2017-January-3 and 2019-August-4. The 49 new AGN included here are
members of either the Robopol optical polarization survey
(Blinov+ 2021MNRAS.501.3715B 2021MNRAS.501.3715B), the Fermi 2FHL catalog
(Ackermann+ 2016, J/ApJS/222/5), the LAT-monitored list of flaring
sources, or the MOJAVE-Fermi hard-spectrum gamma-ray sample
(Lister+ 2018, J/ApJS/234/12).
File Summary:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ReadMe 80 . This file
table1.dat 97 447 MOJAVE AGN properties
table3.dat 82 648 15GHz map parameters
table4.dat 62 42821 Fitted jet features
table5.dat 168 1923 Vector motion fit properties of jet features;
from erratum published in 2023, ApJ, 949, 34
table6.dat 173 926 Acceleration fit properties of jet features
table7.dat 96 447 MOJAVE jet properties
fig1/* . 648 Individual 15GHz map in jpeg format
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also:
VII/249 : 6dF-DR2 Galaxy Survey (Jones+, 2005)
V/156 : LAMOST DR7 catalogs (Luo+, 2019)
IX/67 : Incremental Fermi LAT 4th cat. (4FGL-DR3) (Fermi-LAT col., 2022)
J/AJ/130/1389 : Linear polarization of AGN jets at 15GHz (Lister+, 2005)
J/A+A/445/441 : SED of BL Lacertae objects (Nieppola+, 2006)
J/A+A/450/959 : VLBA images of High Frequency Peakers (Orienti+, 2006)
J/A+A/488/867 : Synchrotron peak frequency of 135 AGN (Nieppola+, 2008)
J/AJ/137/3718 : 15GHz monitoring of AGN jets with VLBA (Lister+, 2009)
J/AJ/138/1874 : MOJAVE. VI. Kinematics of blazar jets (Lister+, 2009)
J/ApJS/188/405 : Fermi-LAT first source catalog (1FGL) (Abdo+, 2010)
J/ApJ/743/171 : The 2LAC catalog (Ackermann+, 2011)
J/ApJ/740/98 : Synchroton peak for blazars & radio galaxies (Meyer+, 2011)
J/ApJS/194/29 : Observations of blazars at 15GHz (Richards+, 2011)
J/AJ/144/105 : MOJAVE. VIII. Faraday rotation in AGN jets. (Hovatta+, 2012)
J/ApJS/199/31 : Fermi LAT second source catalog (2FGL) (Nolan+, 2012)
J/A+A/538/A26 : BL Lac objects beyond z=1.3 (Rau+, 2012)
J/ApJ/748/49 : Opt. spectroscopy of 1LAC broad-line blazars (Shaw+, 2012)
J/AJ/146/120 : MOJAVE. X. Parsec-scale kinematics of AGNs (Lister+, 2013)
J/ApJ/764/135 : Spectroscopic redshifts of BL Lac objects (Shaw+, 2013)
J/ApJS/218/23 : Fermi LAT third source catalog (3FGL) (Acero+, 2015)
J/ApJ/810/14 : Third catalog of LAT-detected AGNs (3LAC) (Ackermann+, 2015)
J/ApJ/810/L9 : 1.5Jy MOJAVE AGN sample and 3FGL data (Lister+, 2015)
J/MNRAS/450/3568 : Non-Fermi blazar sample (Xiong+, 2015)
J/ApJS/222/5 : 2nd Fermi-LAT >50GeV catalog (2FHL) (Ackermann+, 2016)
J/AJ/152/12 : MOJAVE. XIII. New 15GHz obs. on 1994-2013 (Lister+, 2016)
J/ApJS/232/18 : The third Fermi-LAT >10GeV catalog (3FHL) (Ajello+, 2017)
J/A+A/598/A17 : The 2WHSP catalog (Chang+, 2017)
J/ApJ/846/98 : Blazar jet kinematics at 43GHz with VLBA (Jorstad+, 2017)
J/MNRAS/468/4992 : MOJAVE XIV. AGN jet shapes & angles (Pushkarev+, 2017)
J/ApJS/233/3 : VLBA Extragalactic Proper Motion Cat. (Truebenbach+, 2017)
J/ApJS/234/12 : MOJAVE XV. VLBA obs. of AGN jets 1996-2016 (Lister+, 2018)
J/A+A/632/A77 : 3HSP blazars catalog (Chang+, 2019)
J/ApJ/874/43 : MOJAVE. XVII. Parsec-scale jet kinematics (Lister+, 2019)
J/MNRAS/485/1822 : AGN core shift measurements (Plavin+, 2019)
J/ApJS/247/33 : Fermi LAT fourth source catalog (4FGL) (Abdollahi+, 2020)
J/ApJ/892/105 : 4th cat. of Fermi LAT-detected AGNs (4LAC) (Ajello+, 2020)
J/ApJS/247/57 : Compact bright radio-loud AGNs. III. 43GHz (Cheng+, 2020)
J/ApJ/899/141 : VLBA observations of the AGN TXS 0128+554 (Lister+, 2020)
http://tevcat.uchicago.edu/ : TeVCat home page
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table1.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 8 A8 --- ID The B1950 epoch coordinate identifier
10- 29 A20 --- OName Alias
31- 31 A1 --- Opt Optical classification (1)
33- 39 F7.5 --- z [0.0043/3.4]? Spectroscopic redshift
41- 67 A27 --- r_Opt Bibcode or reference for Opt (2)
69- 72 A4 --- GevRef Source of the GeV gamma-ray association (3)
74- 85 A12 --- LAT High confidence GeV gamma-ray association from
Fermi LAT catalogs (JHHMM.m+DDMM)
87 A1 --- TeV Known TeV gamma-ray emitter? (4)
89 A1 --- 1.5Jy Member of VLBA 15GHz Quarter Century Sample?
91- 94 F4.1 [Hz] logupk [11.8/17.7]? Log frequency of synchrotron
peak in SED
96- 97 I2 --- r_logupk [1/14]? Reference code for logupk (5)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note (1): Classification as follows:
B = BL Lac (136 occurrences)
Q = quasar (271 occurrences)
G = radio galaxy (23 occurrences)
N = narrow-line Seyfert 1 (6 occurrences)
U = unknown (11 occurrences)
Note (2): LAMOST (Cui+ 2012RAA....12.1197C 2012RAA....12.1197C) redshifts are
from the online data release catalogs.
LAMOSTDR6V2: http://dr6.lamost.org/
LAMOSTDR4 : http://dr4.lamost.org/
Note (3): Source as follows:
4FGL = Abdollahi+ 2020, J/ApJS/247/33 ; Ballet+ (2020arXiv200511208B 2020arXiv200511208B),
3FGL = Acero+ (2015, J/ApJS/218/23),
2FGL = Nolan+ (2012, J/ApJS/199/31),
1FGL = Abdo+ (2010Sci...328..725A 2010Sci...328..725A).
a = Fermi-LAT detection reported by Arsioli & Polenta (2018A&A...616A..20A 2018A&A...616A..20A).
b = Fermi-LAT detection announced in
http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=14383
Note (4): http://tevcat.uchicago.edu/
Note (5): Reference as follows:
1 = ASDC SED builder (2011arXiv1103.0749S 2011arXiv1103.0749S);
2 = Meyer+ 2011, J/ApJ/740/98
3 = Nieppola+ 2008, J/A+A/488/867
4 = 2LAC; Ackermann+ 2011, J/ApJ/743/171
5 = Nieppola+ 2006, J/A+A/445/441
6 = Abdo+ 2009ApJ...707...55A 2009ApJ...707...55A
7 = Abdo+ 2009ApJ...707L.142A 2009ApJ...707L.142A
8 = Hervet+ 2015A&A...578A..69H 2015A&A...578A..69H
9 = 4LAC; Ajello+ 2020, J/ApJ/892/105
10 = 3LAC; Ackermann+ 2015, J/ApJ/810/14
11 = Xiong+ 2015, J/MNRAS/450/3568
12 = Chang+ 2017, J/A+A/598/A17
13 = 3FHL; Ajello+ 2017, J/ApJS/232/18
14 = Chang+ 2019, J/A+A/632/A77
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table3.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 8 A8 --- ID The B1950 epoch coordinate identifier
10- 13 I4 yr Obs.Y [2017/2019] Year of the VLBA observation
15- 17 A3 "month" Obs.M Month of the VLBA observation
19- 20 I2 d Obs.D Day of the VLBA observation
22 A1 --- Flag [a] a = NRAO archive epoch
24- 27 F4.2 mas Bmaj [0.58/2.8] Restoring beam major axis FWHM
29- 32 F4.2 mas Bmin [0.4/1] Restoring beam minor axis FWHM
34- 36 I3 deg Bpa [-89/82] Restoring beam position angle
38- 42 I5 mJy Itot [45/38832] Total cleaned VLBA I flux density
44- 47 F4.2 mJy/beam sigmaI [0.08/0.7] RMS noise level of Stokes I image
49- 53 F5.2 mJy/beam Ibase [0.2/20] Lowest I contour level
55 A1 --- l_Ptot Upper 3σ limit on Ptot based on 3 times
the P rms noise level
56- 61 F6.1 mJy Ptot [0.3/1398] Total cleaned P flux density
63- 66 F4.2 mJy/beam sigmaP [0.09/2.9] RMS noise level of Stokes P image
68- 72 F5.2 mJy/beam Pbase [0.25/17.1] Lowest P contour level
74- 76 I3 deg EVPA [0/179]? Integrated electric vector
position angle
78- 82 A5 --- Fig Figure number (1.1 to 1.648)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table4.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 8 A8 --- ID The B1950 epoch coordinate identifier
10- 11 I2 --- F [0/83] Feature identification number (1)
13 A1 --- f_F [a] Flag on F (2)
15- 18 I4 yr Obs.Y [1994/2019] Year of the observation
20- 22 A3 "month" Obs.M Month of the observation
24- 25 I2 d Obs.D Day of the observation
27- 33 F7.1 mJy I [0.5/28698] VLBA flux density at 15GHz
35- 39 F5.2 mas r [0.01/67]? Position offset (3)
41- 45 F5.1 deg PA ? Position angle
47- 51 F5.2 mas MajAxis [0.01/16.6]? FWHM major axis (4)
53- 56 F4.2 --- Ratio [0.01/1]? Axial ratio (4)
58- 60 I3 deg MajPA ? Major axis position angle
62 A1 --- Robust? Robust feature flag; (Y)es or (N)o
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note (1): Zero indicates a core feature.
Note (2): Flag as follows:
a = Individual feature epoch not used in kinematic fits.
Note (3): From the core feature (or map center for the core feature entries).
Note (4): Of fitted Gaussian.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table5.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 8 A8 --- ID The B1950 epoch coordinate identifier
10- 11 I2 --- F [1/77] Feature identification number
13- 13 A1 --- f_F [a] Flag on F (1)
15- 17 I3 --- Nep [5/170] Number of fitted epochs
19- 22 I4 mJy Savg [0/6994] Mean VLBA 15GHz flux density
24- 28 F5.2 mas Ravg [0.09/67] Mean distance from core feature
30- 35 F6.2 pc dproj [0.03/331]? Mean projected distance
37- 41 F5.1 deg theta Mean position angle
43- 48 F6.2 deg phi Position angle of velocity vector
50- 55 F6.2 deg e_phi [0.26/125] Uncertainty in phi
57- 58 A2 --- f_phi [c? ] Flag on phi (1)
60- 65 F6.2 deg Diff [0/179] Offset between theta and phi
67- 72 F6.2 deg e_Diff [0.29/125] Uncertainty in Diff
74- 75 A2 --- f_Diff [b? ] Flag on Diff (1)
77- 83 F7.2 uarcsec/yr pm [0.4/994] Proper motion
85- 90 F6.2 uarcsec/yr e_pm [0.3/331] Uncertainty in pm
92- 92 A1 --- f_pm [d] Flag on pm (1)
94-101 F8.5 --- beta [0.0006/42]? Apparent speed in unit of c
103-110 F8.5 --- e_beta [0.0006/25]? Uncertainty in beta
112-119 F8.3 yr tej [1945/2018.3]? Estimated epoch of origin
121-126 F6.3 yr e_tej [0.018/13]? Uncertainty in tej
128-134 F7.2 yr tmid [1996/2019] Date of reference (middle)
epoch used for fit
136-144 F9.2 uarcsec alpham [-30321/19061] Fitted RA position
146-151 F6.2 uarcsec e_alpham [0.7/369] Uncertainty in alpham
153-161 F9.2 uarcsec deltam [-66070/24389] Fitted DE position
163-168 F6.2 uarcsec e_deltam [0.9/316] Uncertainty in deltam
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note (1): Flag as follows:
a = Acceleration model fit indicates significant accelerated motion.
c = Feature has significant inward motion according to the
vector motion fit.
b = Feature has significant non-radial motion according to the
vector motion fit.
d = Feature has slow pattern speed.
A question mark indicates a feature whose motion is not consistent
with outward, radial motion but for which the possibility of inward
motion and its degree of non-radialness are uncertain.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table6.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 8 A8 --- ID The B1950 epoch coordinate identifier
10- 11 I2 --- F [1/77] Feature identification number
13 A1 --- f_F Flag on F (1)
15- 20 F6.2 deg phi [-0.12/359] Proper motion
position angle
22- 27 F6.2 deg e_phi [0.2/123] Uncertainty in phi
29- 30 A2 --- f_phi Flag on phi (1)
32- 37 F6.2 deg Diff Offset between theta and phi
39- 44 F6.2 deg e_Diff [0.25/123] Uncertainty in Diff
46- 47 A2 --- f_Diff Flag on Diff (1)
49- 55 F7.2 uarcsec/yr pm [0.8/2879] Proper motion
57- 62 F6.2 uarcsec/yr e_pm [0.29/234] Uncertainty in pm
64- 71 F8.5 --- beta [0.0006/37.8]? Apparent speed
in units of c
73- 79 F7.5 --- e_beta [0.0006/4]? Uncertainty in beta
81- 88 F8.3 uarcsec/yr2 dotmu [0.44/2681] Acceleration
90- 97 F8.3 uarcsec/yr2 e_dotmu [0.098/1755] Uncertainty in dotmu
99-103 F5.1 deg psi Acceleration vector position angle
105-109 F5.1 deg e_psi [2/123] Uncertainty in psi
111-118 F8.2 uarcsec/yr2 dotmuPerp [-1246/2046] Acceleration
perpendicular to velocity direction
120-126 F7.2 uarcsec/yr2 e_dotmuPerp [0.1/1063] Uncertainty in dotmuPerp
128-135 F8.2 uarcsec/yr2 dotmuPar [-1603/2374] Acceleration parallel to
velocity direction
137-143 F7.2 uarcsec/yr2 e_dotmuPar [0.1/1693] Uncertainty in dotmuPar
145-152 F8.1 uarcsec alpham [-20426/16876]? Fitted RA position
154-158 F5.1 uarcsec e_alpham [2.9/431]? Uncertainty in alpham
160-167 F8.1 uarcsec deltam [-66234/24398]? Fitted DE position
169-173 F5.1 uarcsec e_deltam [3/308]? Uncertainty in deltam
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note (1): Flag as follows:
a = Feature shows significant accelerated motion.
c = Feature shows significant inward motion according to
the acceleration fit.
b = Feature shows significant non-radial motion according to
the acceleration fit.
A question mark indicates a feature whose motion is not consistent
with outward, radial motion but for which the possibility of inward
motion and its degree of non-radialness are uncertain.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table7.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 8 A8 --- ID The B1950 epoch coordinate identifier
10- 16 F7.2 uarcsec/yr mu-max [2/2861]? Maximum jet speed
18- 23 F6.2 uarcsec/yr e_mu-max [0.9/191]? Uncertainty in mu-max
25 A1 --- f_mu-max A = Speed is <3σ
27- 32 F6.1 uarcsec/yr mu-med [33/2160]? Median jet speed
34- 37 F4.1 uarcsec/yr e_mu-med [1/97]? Uncertainty in mu-med
39- 45 F7.4 --- beta-max [0.019/41.5]? Maximum speed in units of c
47- 52 F6.4 --- e_beta-max [0.0018/8]? Uncertainty in beta-max
54 A1 --- f_beta-max A = Speed is <3σ
56- 62 F7.4 --- beta-med [0.07/21.3]? Median jet speed in units
of c
64- 69 F6.4 --- e_beta-med [0.0069/2.3]? Uncertainty in beta-med
71- 73 I3 --- Nep [5/180] Number of VLBA epochs
75- 76 I2 --- Nr [0/54] Number of robust fitted jet
features
78 I1 --- Ref [1/6] Reference for jet kinematics (1)
80- 82 I3 deg PA [3/359] Mean innermost jet position angle
84- 86 I3 deg delPA [1/197] Range of innermost jet position
angle
88- 91 F4.1 [-] logVarPA [-4.5/-0.4] Log circular variance of PA
93- 96 F4.1 yr delt [0.4/24.8] Time coverage used to
determine position angle statistics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note (1): Reference as follows:
1 = Lister et al. (2013, J/AJ/146/120)
2 = Lister et al. (2016, J/AJ/152/12)
3 = Lister et al. (2019, J/ApJ/874/43)
4 = Piner et al. (2010ApJ...723.1150P 2010ApJ...723.1150P)
5 = Jorstad et al. (2017, J/ApJ/846/98)
6 = this paper
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
History:
From electronic version of the journal
* 17-Oct-2023:Insert into VizieR
* 11-Mar-2025: In VizieR, SimbadName for 0821+621 (row 157) has been
changed for QSO B0821+621 which is a very different source of
the alias "4C +62.12" given in Table 1.
References:
Lister et al. Paper I. 2005AJ....130.1389L 2005AJ....130.1389L Cat. J/AJ/130/1389
Homan et al. Paper II. 2006AJ....131.1262H 2006AJ....131.1262H Cat. J/AJ/131/1262
Cooper et al. Paper III. 2007ApJS..171..376C 2007ApJS..171..376C Cat. J/ApJS/171/376
Cara & Lister Paper IV. 2008ApJ...674..111C 2008ApJ...674..111C
Lister et al. Paper V. 2009AJ....137.3718L 2009AJ....137.3718L Cat. J/AJ/137/3718
Lister et al. Paper VI. 2009AJ....138.1874L 2009AJ....138.1874L Cat. J/AJ/138/1874
Homan et al. Paper VII. 2009ApJ...706.1253H 2009ApJ...706.1253H Cat. J/ApJ/706/1253
Hovatta et al. Paper VIII. 2012AJ....144..105H 2012AJ....144..105H Cat. J/AJ/144/105
Pushkarev et al. Paper IX. 2012A&A...545A.113P 2012A&A...545A.113P Cat. J/A+A/545/A113
Lister et al. Paper X. 2013AJ....146..120L 2013AJ....146..120L Cat. J/AJ/146/120
Hovatta et al. Paper XI. 2014AJ....147..143H 2014AJ....147..143H Cat. J/AJ/147/143
Homan et al. Paper XII. 2015ApJ...798..134H 2015ApJ...798..134H cat. J/ApJ/798/134
Lister et al. Paper XIII. 2016AJ....152...12L 2016AJ....152...12L Cat. J/AJ/152/12
Pushkarev et al. Paper XIV. 2017MNRAS.468.4992P 2017MNRAS.468.4992P Cat. J/MNRAS/468/4992
Lister et al. Paper XV. 2018ApJS..234...12L 2018ApJS..234...12L Cat. J/ApJS/234/12
Hodge et al. Paper XVI. 2018ApJ...862..151H 2018ApJ...862..151H Cat. J/ApJ/862/151
Lister et al. Paper XVII. 2019ApJ...874...43L 2019ApJ...874...43L Cat. J/ApJ/874/43
Lister et al. Paper XVIII. 2021ApJ...923...30L 2021ApJ...923...30L This catalog
Homan et al. Paper XIX. 2021ApJ...923...67H 2021ApJ...923...67H Cat. J/ApJ/923/67
Pushkarev et al. Paper XX. 2023MNRAS.520.6053P 2023MNRAS.520.6053P
(End) Prepared by [AAS], Emmanuelle Perret [CDS] 12-May-2023