2013/06/26 by Christian M. Fromm, C. M. Fromm, E. Ros +6
Physics and Astronomy · #Active galactic nucleus #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Blazar #Flare #Gamma ray #Neutrino Physics Research #Opacity #Optics #Physics #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Shock (circulatory) #Shock wave #Very Long Baseline Array #Very-long-baseline interferometry #astro-ph.CO #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201321784
35 pages, 46 figures
arxiv created 2013/06/26 · openalex publication_date 2013/07/11 · arxiv updated 2015/06/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Context. The temporal and spatial spectral evolution of the jets of active galactic nuclei (AGN) can be studied with multi-frequency, multi-epoch very-long-baseline-interferometry (VLBI) observations. The combination of both morphological (kinematical) and spectral parameters can be used to derive source-intrinsic physical properties, such as the magnetic field and the nonthermal particle density. Such a study is of special interest during the high states of activity in AGNs, since VLBI observations can provide estimates of the location of the flaring site. Furthermore, we can trace the temporal variations in the source-intrinsic parameters during the flare, which may reflect the interaction between the underlying plasma and a traveling shock wave. The source CTA 102 exhibited such a radio flare around 2006.