J/ApJ/923/30ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/923/30doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.19230030CDSLister M.L.Homan D.C.Kellermann K.I.Kovalev Y.Y.Pushkarev A.B.,Ros E.Savolainen T.2026-02-10T20:05:19Z2023-06-19T12:22:15ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.fractive-galactic-nucleiradio-galaxiesredshiftedvisible-astronomygamma-ray-astronomyWe have analyzed the parsec-scale jet kinematics of 447 bright radio-loud active active galactic nuclei (AGN), based on 15GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) data obtained between 1994 August 31 and 2019 August 4. We present new total intensity and linear polarization maps obtained between 2017 January 1 and 2019 August 4 for 143 of these AGN. We tracked 1923 bright features for five or more epochs in 419 jets. The majority (60%) of the well-sampled jet features show either accelerated or nonradial motion. In 47 jets there is at least one nonaccelerating feature with an unusually slow apparent speed. Most of the jets show variations of 10{deg}-50{deg} in their inner jet position angle (PA) over time, although the overall distribution has a continuous tail out to 200{deg}. AGN with spectral energy distributions peaked at lower frequencies tend to have more variable PAs, with BL Lac objects being less variable than quasars. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) gamma-ray-associated AGN also tend to have more variable PAs than the non-LAT AGN in our sample. We attribute these trends to smaller viewing angles for the lower spectral peaked and LAT-associated jets. We identified 13 AGN where multiple features emerge over decade-long periods at systematically increasing or decreasing PAs. Since the ejected features do not fill the entire jet cross section, this behavior is indicative of a precessing flow instability near the jet base. Although some jets show indications of oscillatory PA evolution, we claim no bona fide cases of periodicity since the fitted periods are comparable to the total VLBA time coverage.2021ApJ...923...30Lhttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/923/30CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicerelated-toVII/249 : 6dF-DR2 Galaxy Survey (Jones+, 2005)V/156 : LAMOST DR7 catalogs (Luo+, 2019)IX/67 : Incremental Fermi LAT 4th cat. (4FGL-DR3) (Fermi-LAT col., 2022)J/AJ/130/1389 : Linear polarization of AGN jets at 15GHz (Lister+, 2005)J/A+A/445/441 : SED of BL Lacertae objects (Nieppola+, 2006)J/A+A/450/959 : VLBA images of High Frequency Peakers (Orienti+, 2006)J/A+A/488/867 : Synchrotron peak frequency of 135 AGN (Nieppola+, 2008)J/AJ/137/3718 : 15GHz monitoring of AGN jets with VLBA (Lister+, 2009)J/AJ/138/1874 : MOJAVE. VI. Kinematics of blazar jets (Lister+, 2009)J/ApJS/188/405 : Fermi-LAT first source catalog (1FGL) (Abdo+, 2010)J/ApJ/743/171 : The 2LAC catalog (Ackermann+, 2011)J/ApJ/740/98 : Synchroton peak for blazars & radio galaxies (Meyer+, 2011)J/ApJS/194/29 : Observations of blazars at 15GHz (Richards+, 2011)J/AJ/144/105 : MOJAVE. VIII. Faraday rotation in AGN jets. (Hovatta+, 2012)J/ApJS/199/31 : Fermi LAT second source catalog (2FGL) (Nolan+, 2012)J/A+A/538/A26 : BL Lac objects beyond z=1.3 (Rau+, 2012)J/ApJ/748/49 : Opt. spectroscopy of 1LAC broad-line blazars (Shaw+, 2012)J/AJ/146/120 : MOJAVE. X. Parsec-scale kinematics of AGNs (Lister+, 2013)J/ApJ/764/135 : Spectroscopic redshifts of BL Lac objects (Shaw+, 2013)J/ApJS/218/23 : Fermi LAT third source catalog (3FGL) (Acero+, 2015)J/ApJ/810/14 : Third catalog of LAT-detected AGNs (3LAC) (Ackermann+, 2015)J/ApJ/810/L9 : 1.5Jy MOJAVE AGN sample and 3FGL data (Lister+, 2015)J/MNRAS/450/3568 : Non-Fermi blazar sample (Xiong+, 2015)J/ApJS/222/5 : 2nd Fermi-LAT >50GeV catalog (2FHL) (Ackermann+, 2016)J/AJ/152/12 : MOJAVE. XIII. New 15GHz obs. on 1994-2013 (Lister+, 2016)J/ApJS/232/18 : The third Fermi-LAT >10GeV catalog (3FHL) (Ajello+, 2017)J/A+A/598/A17 : The 2WHSP catalog (Chang+, 2017)J/ApJ/846/98 : Blazar jet kinematics at 43GHz with VLBA (Jorstad+, 2017)J/MNRAS/468/4992 : MOJAVE XIV. AGN jet shapes & angles (Pushkarev+, 2017)J/ApJS/233/3 : VLBA Extragalactic Proper Motion Cat. (Truebenbach+, 2017)J/ApJS/234/12 : MOJAVE XV. VLBA obs. of AGN jets 1996-2016 (Lister+, 2018)J/A+A/632/A77 : 3HSP blazars catalog (Chang+, 2019)J/ApJ/874/43 : MOJAVE. XVII. Parsec-scale jet kinematics (Lister+, 2019)J/MNRAS/485/1822 : AGN core shift measurements (Plavin+, 2019)J/ApJS/247/33 : Fermi LAT fourth source catalog (4FGL) (Abdollahi+, 2020)J/ApJ/892/105 : 4th cat. of Fermi LAT-detected AGNs (4LAC) (Ajello+, 2020)J/ApJS/247/57 : Compact bright radio-loud AGNs. III. 43GHz (Cheng+, 2020)J/ApJ/899/141 : VLBA observations of the AGN TXS 0128+554 (Lister+, 2020)http://tevcat.uchicago.edu/ : TeVCat home pagehttps://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/923/30https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/923/30http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/923/30https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/923/30https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/923/30http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/923/30GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/ApJ/923/30/mojave18 (MOJAVE AGN (Table 1) and jet (Table 7) properties)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/923/30/mojave18?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/923/30/mojave18?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/923/30/mojave18?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true1.488230838.33754140.0055555555555555566/18 60 110 514 532 556 579 674 700 893 911 968 1085 1154 1263 1342 1450 1509 1546 1622 1700-1702 1782 2122 2140 2143 2214 2228 2280 2397 2414 2549 2574 2710 2721 2836 2929 3017 3024 3052 3096 3099 3309 3492 3616 3675 3710 3712 3784 3820 3876 3882 3886 3951 3971 4027 4054 4080 4285 4572 4685 4695 4770 4820 4865 4964 4977 5139 5154 5353 5423 5448 5458 5460 5546 5597 5693 5767 5817 5848 6018 6088 6164 6252 6368 6496 6507 6641 6647 6777 6815 6822 6853 6888 6948 6963 6984 6996 7004 7045 7091 7156 7181 7226 7235 7371 7389 7446 7548 7570 7653 7758 7857 7896 7969 8004 8031 8177 8199 8220 8299 8466 8487 8515 8615 8699 8717 8915 9003 9075 9204 9248 9347 9442 9460 9545 9570 9612 9629 9632-9633 9676 9688 9711 9714 9998 10006 10163 10170 10249-10250 10352 10422 10501 10548 10681 10921 11045 11153 11212 11242 11430 11522-11523 11529 11552 11631 11639-11640 11649 11715 11845 12047 12241 12323 12352 12444 12466 12475 12580 12599 12604 12619 12625 12664 12851 12896 13156 13230 13320 13352 13410 13447 13485 13496 13572 13582 13693 13729 13820 13927 14068 14338 14520 14641 14737 14744 14797 14842 14854 14858 15023 15067 15147 15211 15286 15373 15490 15494 15916 15969 16027 16049 16059 16093 16113 16184 16247 16272 16281 16298 16301 16355 16720 17184 17186 17351 17364 17414 17516 17541 17579 17857 17917 17927 18002 18005 18035 18037 18158 18214 18253 18378 18457 18506 18624 18661 18669 18718 18821 18907 19088 19101 19109 19177 19190 19271 19370 19373 19398 19487 19523 19567 19593 19622 19831 19878 20099 20224 20468 20836 20888 20920 20935 21121 21266 21358 21437 21564 21574 21758 21768 21793 21873 21924 21935 21960 21968 21972 22363 22375 22396 22501 22658 22894 22917 22950 23014-23015 23099 23121 23127 23323 23416 23691 23786 23897 24084 24123 24260 24444 24571 24775 24828 24845 25016 25196 25255 25302 25409 25503 25630 25649 25742 25818 25864 26083 26115 26131 26292 26303 26340 26363 26491 26550 26614 26898 26900 26966 27060 27124 27138 27144 27243 27310 27417 27423 27433 27765 28083 28117 28139 28225 28249 28315 28339 28454 28479 28492 28517 29016-29017 29570 29620 29675 29714 29772 29952 30012 30446 30667 31190 31211 31391 31399 31430 31451 31461 31559 31599 31656 31663-31664 31773 31894 31930 31986 32034 32311 32345 32660 32764 34675 35706 35786 36058 36090 36151 36554 36602 38763 40353 40434 40479 40527 40730 40762 40766 40811 40874 40885 42901 42980 44147 44153 44247 44526 44730 44791 44805 44908 45011 46963-46964 48023 48123 48595 48610 48798 48846 48965 49071 490839.939104355462015e-24 9.939104355462015e-24https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/ApJ/923/30?format=asciiGamma-rayOpticalRadiodefaultJ/ApJ/923/30/mojave18MOJAVE AGN (Table 1) and jet (Table 7) propertiesf_beta-maxA = Speed is <3{sigma}meta.codecharbeta-med[0.07/21.3]? Median jet speed in units of cphys.velocfloatnullablee_beta-med[0.0069/2.3]? Uncertainty in beta-medstat.errorfloatnullableNep[5/180] Number of VLBA epochsmeta.numberintNr[0/54] Number of robust fitted jet featuresmeta.numberintRef[1/6] Reference for jet kinematics (1)meta.ref;pos.frameintPA[3/359] Mean innermost jet position angledegpos.posAng;stat.meanintSimbadNameSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.idcharnullableNEDNED column added by the CDSmeta.ref.urlcharLEDAmeta.ref.urlcharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintIDThe B1950 epoch coordinate identifiermeta.id;meta.maincharprimaryONameAliasmeta.idcharOptOptical classification (1)meta.code.classcharz[0.0043/3.4]? Spectroscopic redshiftsrc.redshiftdoublenullabler_OptBibcode or reference for Opt (2)meta.ref;pos.framecharGevRefSource of the GeV gamma-ray association (3)meta.bibcharTeVKnown TeV gamma-ray emitter? (4)meta.codechar1.5JyMember of VLBA 15GHz Quarter Century Sample?meta.codecharlogupk[11.8/17.7]? Log frequency of synchrotron peak in SEDlog(Hz)em.freqfloatnullabler_logupk[1/14]? Reference code for logupk (5)meta.ref;pos.frameintnullablemu-max[2/2861]? Maximum jet speeduarcsec/yrphys.veloc;stat.maxfloatnullablee_mu-max[0.9/191]? Uncertainty in mu-maxuarcsec/yrstat.errorfloatnullablef_mu-maxA = Speed is <3{sigma}meta.codecharmu-med[33/2160]? Median jet speeduarcsec/yrphys.veloc;stat.medianfloatnullablee_mu-med[1/97]? Uncertainty in mu-meduarcsec/yrstat.errorfloatnullablebeta-max[0.019/41.5]? Maximum speed in units of cphys.veloc;stat.maxfloatnullablee_beta-max[0.0018/8]? Uncertainty in beta-maxstat.errorfloatnullabledelPA[1/197] Range of innermost jet position angledegpos.posAngintlogVarPA[-4.5/-0.4] Log circular variance of PApos.posAng;stat.variancefloatdelt[0.4/24.8] Time coverage used to determine position angle statisticsyrtime.intervalfloatNmapNumber of 15GHz map data for this AGN (link to Table3)meta.numberintnullableNjfNumber of fitted jet features for this AGN (link to Table4)meta.numberintnullableNaNumber of acceleration fit properties for this source (link to Table6)meta.numberintnullable_RARight Ascension (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.ra;meta.main_DEDeclination (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainLATHigh confidence GeV gamma-ray association from Fermi LAT catalogs (JHHMM.m+DDMM)meta.id.assoccharJ/ApJ/923/30/table315GHz map parametersrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintObs[2017/2019] Year of the VLBA observationtime.epochBmaj[0.58/2.8] Restoring beam major axis FWHMmasphys.angSize;instr.beamfloatBmin[0.4/1] Restoring beam minor axis FWHMmasphys.angSize;instr.beamfloatBpa[-89/82] Restoring beam position angledegpos.posAng;instr.beamintIDThe B1950 epoch coordinate identifiermeta.id;meta.maincharFlag[a] a = NRAO archive epochmeta.code.errorcharItot[45/38832] Total cleaned VLBA I flux densitymJyphot.flux.density;em.radio.12-30GHzintsigmaI[0.08/0.7] RMS noise level of Stokes I imagemJy/beaminstr.det.noisefloatIbase[0.2/20] Lowest I contour levelmJy/beamphot.flux.density;em.radio.12-30GHzfloatl_PtotUpper 3{sigma} limit on Ptot based on 3 times the P rms noise levelmeta.code.errorcharPtot[0.3/1398] Total cleaned P flux densitymJyphot.flux.densityfloatsigmaP[0.09/2.9] RMS noise level of Stokes P imagemJy/beaminstr.det.noisefloatPbase[0.25/17.1] Lowest P contour levelmJy/beaminstr.sensitivityfloatEVPA[0/179]? Integrated electric vector position angledegpos.posAng;phys.polarizationintnullableFigFigure number (1.1 to 1.648)meta.bib.figcharJ/ApJ/923/30/table4Fitted jet featuresIDThe B1950 epoch coordinate identifiermeta.id;meta.maincharF[0/83] Feature identification number (1)meta.idintf_F[a] Flag on F (2)meta.codecharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintObs[1994/2019] Year of the observationtime.epochindexedI[0.5/28698] VLBA flux density at 15GHzmJyphot.flux.density;em.radio.12-30GHzfloatr[0.01/67]? Position offset (3)maspos;arith.difffloatnullablePA? Position angledegpos.posAngfloatnullableMajAxis[0.01/16.6]? FWHM major axis (4)masphys.angSizefloatnullableRatio[0.01/1]? Axial ratio (4)phys.size.axisRatiofloatnullableMajPA? Major axis position angledegpos.posAngintnullableRobust?Robust feature flag; (Y)es or (N)ometa.codecharJ/ApJ/923/30/table5Vector motion fit properties of jet features; from erratum published in 2026, ApJ, 997, 368IDThe B1950 epoch coordinate identifiermeta.id;meta.maincharf_F[a] Flag on F (1)meta.codecharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintF[1/77] Feature identification numbermeta.idintNep[5/170] Number of fitted epochsmeta.numberintSavg[1/6994] Mean VLBA 15GHz flux densitymJyphot.flux.density;em.radio.12-30GHzintRavg[0.09/67] Mean distance from core featuremaspos.angDistance;stat.meanfloatdproj[0.03/331]? Mean projected distancepcpos.distance;stat.meanfloatnullablethetaMean position angledegpos.posAng;stat.meanfloatphiPosition angle of velocity vectordegpos.posAngfloate_phi[0.26/125] Uncertainty in phidegstat.errorfloatf_phi[c? ] Flag on phi (1)meta.codecharDiff[0/179] Offset between theta and phidegpos.posAng;arith.difffloate_Diff[0.29/125] Uncertainty in Diffdegstat.errorfloatf_Diff[b? ] Flag on Diff (1)meta.codecharpm[0.4/2861] Proper motionuarcsec/yrpos.pmfloate_pm[0.3/331] Uncertainty in pmuarcsec/yrstat.errorfloatf_pm[d] Flag on pm (1)meta.codecharbeta[0.0006/42]? Apparent speed in unit of cphys.velocdoublenullablee_beta[0.0006/25]? Uncertainty in betastat.errordoublenullabletej[1945/2018.3]? Estimated epoch of originyrmeta.ref;time.epochdoublenullablee_tej[0.018/13]? Uncertainty in tejyrstat.errorfloatnullabletmid[1996/2019] Date of reference (middle) epoch used for fityrtime.epochfloatalpham[-30321/19061] Fitted RA positionuarcsecpos.eq.ra;arith.diffdoublee_alpham[0.7/369] Uncertainty in alphamuarcsecstat.errorfloatdeltam[-66070/24389] Fitted DE positionuarcsecpos.eq.dec;arith.diffdoublee_deltam[0.9/316] Uncertainty in deltamuarcsecstat.errorfloatJ/ApJ/923/30/table6Acceleration fit properties of jet featuresDiffOffset between theta and phidegpos.posAng;arith.difffloatalpham[-20426/16876]? Fitted RA positionuarcsecpos.eq.radoublenullablee_alpham[2.9/431]? Uncertainty in alphamuarcsecstat.errorfloatnullableIDThe B1950 epoch coordinate identifiermeta.id;meta.maincharf_phiFlag on phi (1)meta.codecharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintF[1/77] Feature identification numbermeta.idintf_FFlag on F (1)meta.codecharphi[-0.12/359] Proper motion position angledegpos.posAngfloate_phi[0.2/123] Uncertainty in phidegstat.errorfloate_Diff[0.25/123] Uncertainty in Diffdegstat.errorfloatf_DiffFlag on Diff (1)meta.codecharpm[0.8/2879] Proper motionuarcsec/yrpos.pmfloate_pm[0.29/234] Uncertainty in pmuarcsec/yrstat.errorfloatbeta[0.0006/37.8]? Apparent speed in units of cphys.velocdoublenullablee_beta[0.0006/4]? Uncertainty in betastat.errordoublenullabledotmu[0.44/2681] Accelerationuarcsec.yr**-2phys.accelerationdoublee_dotmu[0.098/1755] Uncertainty in dotmuuarcsec.yr**-2stat.errordoublepsiAcceleration vector position angledegpos.posAngfloate_psi[2/123] Uncertainty in psidegstat.errorfloatdotmuPerp[-1246/2046] Acceleration perpendicular to velocity directionuarcsec.yr**-2phys.accelerationdoublee_dotmuPerp[0.1/1063] Uncertainty in dotmuPerpuarcsec.yr**-2stat.errorfloatdotmuPar[-1603/2374] Acceleration parallel to velocity directionuarcsec.yr**-2phys.accelerationdoublee_dotmuPar[0.1/1693] Uncertainty in dotmuParuarcsec.yr**-2stat.errorfloatdeltam[-66234/24398]? Fitted DE positionuarcsecpos.eq.decdoublenullablee_deltam[3/308]? Uncertainty in deltamuarcsecstat.errorfloatnullable