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Filaments explaining blazar jet radio variability

High-resolution observations using a network of ground-based radio dishes and one telescope in space have revealed filamentary structures in the source 3C279. These filaments may explain the origin of radio variability in blazar jets.

With the excellent resolving power and sensitivity of their observations, Fuentes et al. could resolve a complex fine structure along and in the transverse direction of the jet flow, which is only possible in a few observations and for a handful of AGNs. In 3C279, they found a filamentary fine structure produced by instabilities in the jet flow.

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Fig. 1: High-resolution radio images of 3C279.

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  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany

    Michael Janssen

  2. Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands

    Michael Janssen

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Janssen, M. Filaments explaining blazar jet radio variability.
Nat Astron (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02106-6

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  • Published: 02 November 2023

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02106-6

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