The MOJAVE Program: Project Description

Project Description

Team Members

AGN Samples

Observational
Status

Movies

Useful Links:

Blazar Monitoring List

Bordeaux VLBI Database

VSOP Pre-Launch
Survey

Radio Reference
Frame Database

Radio Fundamental Catalog

VSOP Survey
Programme

	PROJECT DESCRIPTION VLBI observations remain the only direct evidence for relativistic outflows from supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN). The MOJAVE program realizes one of the envisioned goals of the VLBA, which is to provide long-term, systematic monitoring of relativistic motion in AGN jets on parsec-scales. The major aims of our program are to a) provide a significant improvement over previous surveys in terms of image resolution, size, and statistical completeness, and b) to characterize the kinematics and polarization evolution of AGN jets and to determine how these relate to other source properties. We are providing up-to-date parsec-scale structural information on about 100 AGN jets in support of the Fermi Gamma-Ray Observatory. Current observations happen under the BK255 project, which is approved for 864 hours. We continue observing one 24-hrs long segment every month until the middle of 2027. In each segment we observe 40 targets from a pool of 65 AGN jets exhibiting accelerating features and/or swinging nozzles, and 147 AGN from the MOJAVE 1.5 Jy Quarter Century sample that are in the IceCube northern sky footprint (J2000 declination between -15 degrees and +40 degrees). Correlated data is made public immediately after correlation from the NRAO data archive, imaged results - from this website as soon as data processing and calibration is finished by the team.
	Science Goals There remain a great many unanswered questions about AGN jets that are being addressed by MOJAVE, which include: What is the overall distribution of superluminal speeds and intrinsic velocities in AGN jets? Where do relativistic flows get accelerated and collimated to form jets? Do different components within a jet follow the same or different trajectories? do they have the same or different speeds? are the trajectories curved or straight? are there accelerations or decelerations? How is the apparent velocity related to the nature of the host galaxy and its luminosity at other wavelengths? Are there differences between the bulk flow velocity and the pattern velocity as might be expected if the observed motions are due to the propagation of shocks rather than the flow of material? What is the nature of the material responsible for altering the polarization properties of the jet emission? By what mechanism is circularly polarized emission produced in AGN jets? How are the gamma-ray emission and jet activity correlated in AGN? What is the machanism of proton acceleration as well as how and where high energy neutrinos are produced? Our program differs from other VLBA monitoring programs which run for limited periods, or concentrate on specific sources or classes of sources, (e.g., gamma-ray loud, lobe-dominated, peaked-spectrum) as one of our goals is to understand how the kinematics differ among these groups. Our observations are important for understanding jet physics and evolution, and for providing constraints on theoretical models. A list of publications from the MOJAVE project can be found here. Home \| Science \| Sample \| Data Archive \| Status \| Publications \| Movies \| RM Maps \| α Maps \| People