Superluminal Jet
in 3C 279
This animation illustrates
apparent superluminal motion in the blazar/quasar 3C 279,
which lies at redshift z = 0.534.
The horizontal axis is position on the celestial sphere, with the scale
given at the top in milli-arcseconds. At the bottom is a scale for the
corresponding linear distance in light years, assuming the source to be
moving at right angles to our line of sight. This scale was constructed
from the angular measure using the distance to the blazar as derived from
the observed redshift and the Hubble law (a redshift of z = 0.534 corresponds
to a distance of almost 6 billion light years).
The vertical axis is time of observation over about a 3 year period.
Usage:
Click the "Play" button to see details of how this radio observation
suggests that the outermost lump seen in the blazar jet is superluminal.