Proposal code
v014
Proposal title
Probing Sub-Parsec Scales in the Active Galaxy MKN 421
The |
Investigators and their |
Affiliations |
| P.I. |
S. C. Unwin |
Caltech, USA |
| |
A. E. Wehrle |
IPAC/JPL/Caltech, USA |
Proposal Abstract
We propose to image one of the closest active galaxies, the BL Lac object
MKN 421, at 5 and 22 GHz, to probe the structure of its jet on scales as
small as one light-month. This remarkable object emits TeV gamma-rays, the
origin of which is believed to be upscattering caused by ultrarelativistic
particles the jet, but the mechanism is in much debate. With VSOP imaging
we will study the jet collimation on scales < 10^{17} cm, and constrain
the Doppler factor of the bulk motion from structure changes. Theoretical
models currently lack measurements of many of the physical parameters
of the synchrotron-emitting jet; we can derive many of these using the X-ray
flux as a constraint.
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