Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 854, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aaa5ac
Keywords
galaxies: active; galaxies: jets; quasars: individual (CTA 102); relativistic processes; techniques: high angular resolution
Categories
Funding
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS
- FAST Fellowship by Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, CAS
- CAS-PIFI [2016PM024]
- NSFC Research Fund for International Young Scientists [11650110438]
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory through the MoU
- NRAO
- NASA through Fermi Guest Investigator Program
- Fermi Guest Investigator [NNX08AW56G, NNX09AU10G, NNX12A093G, NNX15AU81G]
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The gamma-ray-bright blazar CTA 102 is studied using imaging (new 15 GHz and archival 43 GHz Very Long Baseline Array, VLBA data) and time variable optical flux density, polarization degree, and electric vector position angle (EVPA) spanning between 2015 June 1 and 2016 October 1, covering a prominent gamma-ray flare during 2016 January. The pc-scale jet indicates expansion with oscillatory features up to 17 mas. Component proper motions are in the range 0.04-0.33 mas yr(-1) with acceleration up to 1.2 mas followed by a slowing down beyond 1.5 mas. A jet bulk Lorentz factor >= 17.5, position angle of 128 degrees.3, inclination angle <= 6 degrees.6 and intrinsic half opening angle <= 1 degrees.8 are derived from the VLBA data. These inferences are employed in a helical jet model to infer long-term variability in flux density, polarization degree, EVPA, and a rotation of the Stokes Q and U parameters. A core distance of r(core,43 GHz) = 22.9 pc, and a magnetic field strength at 1 pc and the core location of 1.57 G and 0.07 G, respectively, are inferred using the core-shift method. The study is useful in the context of estimating jet parameters and in offering clues to distinguish mechanisms responsible for variability over different timescales.
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