VLBA22A-453
Tracking A Blazar Jet Ejection at Redshift 4.3
Abstract
We have detected a gamma-ray flare in the high-redshift blazar GB 1508+5714 (ATel #15202). At a redshift of z=4.3, the blazar is one of the most distant sources in the Universe that has been detected at gamma-ray energies and its recent gamma-ray flare provides a rare opportunity to study its broadband emission with simultaneous multi-wavelength data. We propose a multi-frequency VLBI follow-up campaign with the VLBA and the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope at 15, 22, and 43 GHz and the additional participation of GBT at 86 GHz to detect possible newly-emerging components and to measure spectral variations of the most compact parts of the structure of the source. The object has at present a flat radio spectrum with about 200 mJy flux density (increasing). The proposed ToO VLBI observations will probe the ejection of plasma components in an AGN jet at a high rest-frame frequency of over 200 GHz (450 GHz with 86 GHz observations). At the lower observing frequencies, we will be able to compare the radio-to-gamma-ray properties of the jet ejections in today's blazars with those found in the early Universe.
Investigators
| Name | Institution |
|---|---|
| GBT Operator | Green Bank Observatory |
| Florian Eppel | Würzburg, Universität |
| Petra Benke | Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie |
| Joern Wilms | Astronomical Institute of the University of Erlangen-Nuremburg |
| Florian Roesch | Würzburg, Universität |
| Michael Kreter | Würzburg, Universität |
| Jonas Hessdoerfer | Würzburg, Universität |
| Jeffrey Hodgson | Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie; Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute |
| Leonid Gurvits | Joint Institute for Very Long Baseline Interferometry European Research Infrastructure Consortium |
| Yuri Kovalev | Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie |
| Eduardo Ros | Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie; València, Universitat de |
| Mikhail Lisakov | Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie; Lebedev Physical Institute |
| Andrea Gokus * | Washington University in St. Louis |
| Matthias Kadler | Würzburg, Universität |
* indicates the PI