AGN Jets from Different Angles: Results from Multi-scale, Multi-wavelength Observations

by Dr Preeti Kharb (Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore)

Tuesday 29 Apr 2014, 16:00 → 17:00 Asia/Kolkata

Lecture Theatre (AG-66) (Colaba Campus)

Jet formation and propagation are important open questions in AGN physics. While we have a working understanding of jets, the details still escape us. I will discuss our observational findings on jets in AGN on parsec-scales close to their launching sites, as well as on kiloparsec scales as they propagate through the interstellar and intergalactic medium. Radio polarization studies highlight the important role played by the magnetic fields in creating and collimating the jets. Furthermore, there are suggestions of the presence of ordered (helical?) magnetic fields on parsec-scales. A correlation is observed between the jet speeds on parsec-scales and the lobe emission on kiloparsec-scales, which points to a close connection between radio emission on spatial scales that differ by a factor of 10^4-10^5, and undermines the role played by the environment on jet propagation. Our multi-wavelength observations of kiloparsec-scale jets in blazars with the Very Large Array, Chandra and Hubble Space Telescopes are beginning to probe the emission mechanisms of the optical and X-ray jets closely, and are lending valuable insights into the formation of low and high power jets.