Dynamics and geometry of the inner sub-parsec-scale jet in ³C 279 observed with the Event Horizon Telescope

@article{muller2026dynamics,
  title = {{Dynamics and geometry of the inner sub-parsec-scale jet in $^3$C 279 observed with the Event Horizon Telescope}},
  author = {Hendrik Müller and Sebastiano D von Fellenberg and Ai-Ling Zeng and Paul Tiede and Thomas P Krichbaum and Roman Gold and Tuomas Savolainen and Jae-Young Kim and Sijia Peng and Teresa Toscano and Michael Janssen and Boris Georgiev and Dhanya G Nair and Iniyan Natarajan and Lindy Blackburn and Kazunori Akiyama and Ezequiel Albentosa-Ruíz and Antxon Alberdi and Walter Alef and Juan Carlos Algaba and Rohan Ganesh Amanaganti and Richard Anantua and Eleni Antonopoulou and Keiichi Asada and Rebecca Azulay and Anne-Kathrin Baczko and David Ball and Bidisha Bandyopadhyay and John Barrett and Michi Bauböck and Bradford A Benson and Dan Bintley and Raymond Blundell and Katherine L Bouman and Geoffrey C Bower and Michael Bremer and Roger Brissenden and Silke Britzen and Avery E Broderick and Dominique Broguiere and Thomas Bronzwaer and Sandra Bustamante and Douglas F Carlos and John E Carlstrom and Andrew Chael and Chi-Kwan Chan and Chin-Shin Chang and Dominic O Chang and Koushik Chatterjee and Erandi Chavez and Ming-Tang Chen and Yongjun Chen and Xiaopeng Cheng and Paul Chichura and Ilje Cho and Nicholas S Conroy and John E Conway and Thomas M Crawford and Geoffrey B Crew and Alejandro Cruz-Osorio},
  journal = {Astron.Astrophys.},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202660360},
  eprint = {2607.16104},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05799236v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Dynamics and geometry of the inner sub-parsec-scale jet in ^3C 279 observed with the Event Horizon Telescope
AU  - Hendrik Müller
AU  - Sebastiano D von Fellenberg
AU  - Ai-Ling Zeng
AU  - Paul Tiede
AU  - Thomas P Krichbaum
AU  - Roman Gold
AU  - Tuomas Savolainen
AU  - Jae-Young Kim
AU  - Sijia Peng
AU  - Teresa Toscano
AU  - Michael Janssen
AU  - Boris Georgiev
AU  - Dhanya G Nair
AU  - Iniyan Natarajan
AU  - Lindy Blackburn
AU  - Kazunori Akiyama
AU  - Ezequiel Albentosa-Ruíz
AU  - Antxon Alberdi
AU  - Walter Alef
AU  - Juan Carlos Algaba
AU  - Rohan Ganesh Amanaganti
AU  - Richard Anantua
AU  - Eleni Antonopoulou
AU  - Keiichi Asada
AU  - Rebecca Azulay
AU  - Anne-Kathrin Baczko
AU  - David Ball
AU  - Bidisha Bandyopadhyay
AU  - John Barrett
AU  - Michi Bauböck
AU  - Bradford A Benson
AU  - Dan Bintley
AU  - Raymond Blundell
AU  - Katherine L Bouman
AU  - Geoffrey C Bower
AU  - Michael Bremer
AU  - Roger Brissenden
AU  - Silke Britzen
AU  - Avery E Broderick
AU  - Dominique Broguiere
AU  - Thomas Bronzwaer
AU  - Sandra Bustamante
AU  - Douglas F Carlos
AU  - John E Carlstrom
AU  - Andrew Chael
AU  - Chi-Kwan Chan
AU  - Chin-Shin Chang
AU  - Dominic O Chang
AU  - Koushik Chatterjee
AU  - Erandi Chavez
AU  - Ming-Tang Chen
AU  - Yongjun Chen
AU  - Xiaopeng Cheng
AU  - Paul Chichura
AU  - Ilje Cho
AU  - Nicholas S Conroy
AU  - John E Conway
AU  - Thomas M Crawford
AU  - Geoffrey B Crew
AU  - Alejandro Cruz-Osorio
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/15
JO  - Astron.Astrophys.
DO  - 10.1051/0004-6361/202660360
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05799236v1
AB  - The 2021 Event Horizon Telescope observations resolve the innermost jet region of the blazar 3C 279 with unprecedented detail. The reconstructed images consistently reveal a compact core elongated nearly orthogonal to the large-scale jet axis. This rarely observed morphology recurs across multiple epochs and from 22–230 GHz and is therefore intrinsic rather than an imaging artifact. Geometric model fitting identifies several components with apparent speeds up to βapp ∼ 10, requiring bulk Lorentz factors Γ ≳ 10.3 and constraining viewing angles to extremely small values (≲1°). Rest-frame brightness temperatures are systematically low (TB ∼ 109–1010 K), consistent with optically thin emission at 230 GHz. These results suggest that the jet bends toward the observer on sub-parsec scales, producing strong relativistic beaming. Possible drivers of the observed jet bending and temporal evolution include the jet’s interaction with the interstellar medium, kink or Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, magnetic reconnection near the horizon, or binary-induced precession. However, the current temporal coverage of VLBI data remains insufficient to distinguish between these mechanisms. Continued multifrequency VLBI monitoring will be essential to constraining the dynamics and geometry of the jet base in 3C 279.Key words: galaxies: jets / galaxies: nuclei
ER  -