The 1.4 mm Core of Centaurus A: First VLBI Results with the South Pole Telescope

Junhan Kim; Daniel P. Marrone; Alan L. Roy; Jan Wagner; Keiichi Asada; Christopher Beaudoin; Jay Blanchard; John E. Carlstrom; Ming Tang Chen; Thomas M. Crawford; Geoffrey B. Crew; Sheperd S. Doeleman; Vincent L. Fish; Christopher H. Greer; Mark A. Gurwell; Jason W. Henning; Makoto Inoue; Ryan Keisler; Thomas P. Krichbaum; Ru Sen Lu; Dirk Muders; Cornelia Müller; Chi H. Nguyen; Eduardo Ros; Jason Soohoo; Remo P.J. Tilanus; Michael Titus; Laura Vertatschitsch; Jonathan Weintroub; J. Anton Zensus

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aac7c6

The 1.4 mm Core of Centaurus A: First VLBI Results with the South Pole Telescope

Junhan Kim, Daniel P. Marrone, Alan L. Roy, Jan Wagner, Keiichi Asada, Christopher Beaudoin, Jay Blanchard, John E. Carlstrom, Ming Tang Chen, Thomas M. Crawford, Geoffrey B. Crew, Sheperd S. Doeleman, Vincent L. Fish, Christopher H. Greer, Mark A. Gurwell, Jason W. Henning, Makoto Inoue, Ryan Keisler, Thomas P. Krichbaum, Ru Sen LuDirk Muders, Cornelia Müller, Chi H. Nguyen, Eduardo Ros, Jason Soohoo, Remo P.J. Tilanus, Michael Titus, Laura Vertatschitsch, Jonathan Weintroub, J. Anton Zensus

Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Centaurus A (Cen A) is a bright radio source associated with the nearby galaxy NGC 5128 where high-resolution radio observations can probe the jet at scales of less than a light day. The South Pole Telescope (SPT) and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment performed a single-baseline very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observation of Cen A in 2015 January as part of VLBI receiver deployment for the SPT. We measure the correlated flux density of Cen A at a wavelength of 1.4 mm on a ∼7000 km (5 Gλ) baseline. Ascribing this correlated flux density to the core, and with the use of a contemporaneous short-baseline flux density from a Submillimeter Array observation, we infer a core brightness temperature of 1.4 ×10¹¹ K. This is close to the equipartition brightness temperature, where the magnetic and relativistic particle energy densities are equal. Under the assumption of a circular Gaussian core component, we derive an upper limit to the core size φ = 34.0 ±1.8 μas, corresponding to 120 Schwarzschild radii for a black hole mass of 5.5 ×10⁷ M _o.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	129
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	861
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aac7c6
State	Published - Jul 10 2018

Keywords

black hole physics
galaxies: active
galaxies: individual (Centaurus A)
submillimeter: general
techniques: high angular resolution
techniques: interferometric

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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Kim, J., Marrone, D. P., Roy, A. L., Wagner, J., Asada, K., Beaudoin, C., Blanchard, J., Carlstrom, J. E., Chen, M. T., Crawford, T. M., Crew, G. B., Doeleman, S. S., Fish, V. L., Greer, C. H., Gurwell, M. A., Henning, J. W., Inoue, M., Keisler, R., Krichbaum, T. P., ... Zensus, J. A. (2018). The 1.4 mm Core of Centaurus A: First VLBI Results with the South Pole Telescope. Astrophysical Journal, 861(2), Article 129. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aac7c6

Kim, J, Marrone, DP, Roy, AL, Wagner, J, Asada, K, Beaudoin, C, Blanchard, J, Carlstrom, JE, Chen, MT, Crawford, TM, Crew, GB, Doeleman, SS, Fish, VL, Greer, CH, Gurwell, MA, Henning, JW, Inoue, M, Keisler, R, Krichbaum, TP, Lu, RS, Muders, D, Müller, C, Nguyen, CH, Ros, E, Soohoo, J, Tilanus, RPJ, Titus, M, Vertatschitsch, L, Weintroub, J & Zensus, JA 2018, 'The 1.4 mm Core of Centaurus A: First VLBI Results with the South Pole Telescope', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 861, no. 2, 129. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aac7c6

@article{79295fb737b54e4d88df30d8547dcd40,

title = "The 1.4 mm Core of Centaurus A: First VLBI Results with the South Pole Telescope",

abstract = "Centaurus A (Cen A) is a bright radio source associated with the nearby galaxy NGC 5128 where high-resolution radio observations can probe the jet at scales of less than a light day. The South Pole Telescope (SPT) and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment performed a single-baseline very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observation of Cen A in 2015 January as part of VLBI receiver deployment for the SPT. We measure the correlated flux density of Cen A at a wavelength of 1.4 mm on a ∼7000 km (5 Gλ) baseline. Ascribing this correlated flux density to the core, and with the use of a contemporaneous short-baseline flux density from a Submillimeter Array observation, we infer a core brightness temperature of 1.4 ×1011 K. This is close to the equipartition brightness temperature, where the magnetic and relativistic particle energy densities are equal. Under the assumption of a circular Gaussian core component, we derive an upper limit to the core size φ = 34.0 ±1.8 μas, corresponding to 120 Schwarzschild radii for a black hole mass of 5.5 ×107 M o.",

keywords = "black hole physics, galaxies: active, galaxies: individual (Centaurus A), submillimeter: general, techniques: high angular resolution, techniques: interferometric",

author = "Junhan Kim and Marrone, {Daniel P.} and Roy, {Alan L.} and Jan Wagner and Keiichi Asada and Christopher Beaudoin and Jay Blanchard and Carlstrom, {John E.} and Chen, {Ming Tang} and Crawford, {Thomas M.} and Crew, {Geoffrey B.} and Doeleman, {Sheperd S.} and Fish, {Vincent L.} and Greer, {Christopher H.} and Gurwell, {Mark A.} and Henning, {Jason W.} and Makoto Inoue and Ryan Keisler and Krichbaum, {Thomas P.} and Lu, {Ru Sen} and Dirk Muders and Cornelia M{\"u}ller and Nguyen, {Chi H.} and Eduardo Ros and Jason Soohoo and Tilanus, {Remo P.J.} and Michael Titus and Laura Vertatschitsch and Jonathan Weintroub and Zensus, {J. Anton}",

year = "2018",

month = jul,

day = "10",

doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/aac7c6",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - The 1.4 mm Core of Centaurus A

T2 - First VLBI Results with the South Pole Telescope

AU - Kim, Junhan

AU - Marrone, Daniel P.

AU - Roy, Alan L.

AU - Wagner, Jan

AU - Asada, Keiichi

AU - Beaudoin, Christopher

AU - Blanchard, Jay

AU - Carlstrom, John E.

AU - Chen, Ming Tang

AU - Crawford, Thomas M.

AU - Crew, Geoffrey B.

AU - Doeleman, Sheperd S.

AU - Fish, Vincent L.

AU - Greer, Christopher H.

AU - Gurwell, Mark A.

AU - Henning, Jason W.

AU - Inoue, Makoto

AU - Keisler, Ryan

AU - Krichbaum, Thomas P.

AU - Lu, Ru Sen

AU - Muders, Dirk

AU - Müller, Cornelia

AU - Nguyen, Chi H.

AU - Ros, Eduardo

AU - Soohoo, Jason

AU - Tilanus, Remo P.J.

AU - Titus, Michael

AU - Vertatschitsch, Laura

AU - Weintroub, Jonathan

AU - Zensus, J. Anton

PY - 2018/7/10

Y1 - 2018/7/10

N2 - Centaurus A (Cen A) is a bright radio source associated with the nearby galaxy NGC 5128 where high-resolution radio observations can probe the jet at scales of less than a light day. The South Pole Telescope (SPT) and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment performed a single-baseline very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observation of Cen A in 2015 January as part of VLBI receiver deployment for the SPT. We measure the correlated flux density of Cen A at a wavelength of 1.4 mm on a ∼7000 km (5 Gλ) baseline. Ascribing this correlated flux density to the core, and with the use of a contemporaneous short-baseline flux density from a Submillimeter Array observation, we infer a core brightness temperature of 1.4 ×1011 K. This is close to the equipartition brightness temperature, where the magnetic and relativistic particle energy densities are equal. Under the assumption of a circular Gaussian core component, we derive an upper limit to the core size φ = 34.0 ±1.8 μas, corresponding to 120 Schwarzschild radii for a black hole mass of 5.5 ×107 M o.

AB - Centaurus A (Cen A) is a bright radio source associated with the nearby galaxy NGC 5128 where high-resolution radio observations can probe the jet at scales of less than a light day. The South Pole Telescope (SPT) and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment performed a single-baseline very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observation of Cen A in 2015 January as part of VLBI receiver deployment for the SPT. We measure the correlated flux density of Cen A at a wavelength of 1.4 mm on a ∼7000 km (5 Gλ) baseline. Ascribing this correlated flux density to the core, and with the use of a contemporaneous short-baseline flux density from a Submillimeter Array observation, we infer a core brightness temperature of 1.4 ×1011 K. This is close to the equipartition brightness temperature, where the magnetic and relativistic particle energy densities are equal. Under the assumption of a circular Gaussian core component, we derive an upper limit to the core size φ = 34.0 ±1.8 μas, corresponding to 120 Schwarzschild radii for a black hole mass of 5.5 ×107 M o.

KW - black hole physics

KW - galaxies: active

KW - galaxies: individual (Centaurus A)

KW - submillimeter: general

KW - techniques: high angular resolution

KW - techniques: interferometric

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U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/aac7c6

DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/aac7c6

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85050664056

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 861

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 2

M1 - 129

ER -

The 1.4 mm Core of Centaurus A: First VLBI Results with the South Pole Telescope

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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