3C84

The nucleus of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1275 contains 3C84, one of the brightest, compact radio sources in the sky. This image is a pseudo color representation of the 22 GHz structure of 3C84 as measured using the VLBA and one VLA antenna in October 1995. The resolution is 0.00073 by 0.00043 arcseconds, with the higher resolution in the east-west direction. The total north-south extent of the emission shown is about 0.025 arcseconds or about 26 light years. The brightest regions just north of the center are the location of on-going energy production and probably correspond to the location of a massive black hole at the center of an accretion disk. The source underwent a large increase in brightness in about 1960 and, as VLBI measurements since the mid 1970's have shown, the southern feature has been expanding ever since at an apparent rate of about half the speed of light. The northern feature was not seen until recently and is still either absent or highly attenuated at lower frequencies. The attenuation is thought to be the result of absorption of the radiation by electrons associated with the accretion disk, which, because of the orientation of the system, only occults the far side, or northern, feature. This image is from a project that has used the VLBA to image the system at many frequencies to measure this absorption as a function of position. This will give valuable information on the electron content of the accretion region.

Legacy Astronomical Images

NRAO/AUI/NSF does not hold full copyright for this image. Contact the archivist for details.

Legacy Astronomical Image

3C84

R.C. Walker, K.I. Kellermann, V. Dhawan, J.D. Romney, J.M. Benson, R.C. Vermeulen, W. Alef

Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA)

Very Large Array (VLA)

1995-10-00

continuum

K

1.2 cm

22 GHz

RA 3:19:48.160, Dec: 41:30:42.100 (J2000)

0.000003 x 0.000007 degrees

Contact the archivist for a high resolution tif of this image.

Active Galactic Nuclei Series

Seyferts Unit