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2002MNRAS.336..328L - Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 336, 328-352 (2002/October-2)
Relativistic models and the jet velocity field in the radio galaxy 3C 31.
LAING R.A. and BRIDLE A.H.
Abstract (from CDS):
We conclude that the jets are ~52° to the line of sight, that they decelerate and that they have transverse velocity gradients. Their magnetic field configuration has primarily toroidal and longitudinal components. The jets may be divided into three distinct parts, based not only on the geometry of their outer isophotes, but also on their kinematics and emissivity distributions: a well-collimated inner region; a flaring region of rapid expansion followed by recollimation and a conical outer region. The inner region is poorly resolved, but is best modelled as the sum of fast (0.8-0.9 c) and much slower components. The transition between inner and flaring regions marks a discontinuity in the flow where the emissivity increases suddenly. The on-axis velocity stays fairly constant at ~0.8c until the end of the flaring region, where it drops abruptly to ~0.55c, thereafter falling more slowly to ~0.25c at the end of the modelled region. Throughout the flaring and outer regions, the velocity at the edge of the jet is ~0.7 of its on-axis value. The magnetic field in the flaring region is complex, with an essentially isotropic structure at the edge of the jet, but a more ordered toroidal + longitudinal configuration on-axis. In the outer region, the radial field vanishes and the toroidal component becomes dominant. We show that the emissivity and field structures are inconsistent with simple adiabatic models in the inner and flaring regions. We suggest that the discontinuity between the inner and flaring regions could be associated with a stationary shock structure and that the inferred transverse velocity profiles and field structure in the flaring region support the idea that the jets decelerate by entraining the external medium. We demonstrate the appearance of our model at other angles to the line of sight and argue that other low-luminosity radio galaxies resemble 3C 31 seen at different orientations.
Abstract Copyright: RAS
Journal keyword(s): magnetic fields - MHD - polarization - galaxies: individual: 3C 31 - galaxies: jets - radio continuum: galaxies.
Simbad objects: 10
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