Seyfert Galaxy 3C120

The active galaxy 3C120, located at about 450 million light-years near the Orion constelation, hosts a jet of particles with relativistic energies and velocities, observed here at radio wavelengths (1.3 cm) with the VLBA. The monthly sequence of images, starting in November 1997, shows the motion of several regions of enhanced energy moving in the plane of the sky at velocities of about 4-5 times that of the speed of light. Variability in the emission of these regions is interpreted as resulting from the interaction of the jet with "clouds" of material surrounding the central engine of the active galaxy. Thanks to the VLBA we can now make "movies" of these cosmic jets, by combining sequence of images of 3C120.

Legacy Astronomical Images

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Legacy Astronomical Image

3C120

Jose-Luis Gomez et al.

Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA)

1999-03-00

continuum

K

1.2 cm

22 GHz

RA 4:33:11.100, Dec: 5:21:15.600 (J2000)

0.000003 x 0.000001 degrees

Active Galactic Nuclei Series

Seyferts Unit