We describe the parsec-scale kinematics of 200 active galactic nucleus (AGN) jets based on 15 GHz Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) data obtained between 1994 August 31 and 2011 May 1. We present new VLBA 15 GHz images of these and 59 additional AGNs from the MOJAVE and 2 cm Survey programs. Nearly all of the 60 most heavily observed jets show significant changes in their innermost position angle over a 12-16 yr interval, ranging from 10• to 150• on the sky, corresponding to intrinsic variations of ∼0.• 5 to ∼2• . The BL Lac jets show smaller variations than quasars. Roughly half of the heavily observed jets show systematic position angle trends with time, and 20 show indications of oscillatory behavior. The time spans of the data sets are too short compared to the fitted periods (5-12 yr), however, to reliably establish periodicity. The rapid changes and large jumps in position angle seen in many cases suggest that the superluminal AGN jet features occupy only a portion of the entire jet cross section and may be energized portions of thin instability structures within the jet. We have derived vector proper motions for 887 moving features in 200 jets having at least five VLBA epochs. For 557 well-sampled features, there are sufficient data to additionally study possible accelerations. We find that the moving features are generally non-ballistic, with 70% of the well-sampled features showing either significant accelerations or non-radial motions. Inward motions are rare (2% of all features), are slow (<0.1 mas yr −1 ), are more prevalent in BL Lac jets, and are typically found within 1 mas of the unresolved core feature. There is a general trend of increasing apparent speed with distance down the jet for both radio galaxies and BL Lac objects. In most jets, the speeds of the features cluster around a characteristic value, yet there is a considerable dispersion in the distribution. Orientation variations within the jet cannot fully account for the dispersion, implying that the features have a range of Lorentz factor and/or pattern speed. Very slow pattern speed features are rare, comprising only 4% of the sample, and are more prevalent in radio galaxy and BL Lac jets. We confirm a previously reported upper envelope to the distribution of speed versus beamed luminosity for moving jet features. Below 10 26 W Hz −1 there is a fall-off in maximum speed with decreasing 15 GHz radio luminosity. The general shape of the envelope implies that the most intrinsically powerful AGN jets have a wide range of Lorentz factors up to ∼40, while intrinsically weak jets are only mildly relativistic.

We present 1625 new 15 GHz (2 cm) VLBA images of 295 jets associated with active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the MOJAVE and 2 cm VLBA surveys, spanning observations between 1994 August 31 and 2013 August 20. For 274 AGNs with at least 5 VLBA epochs, we have analyzed the kinematics of 961 individual bright features in their parsec-scale jets. A total of 122 of these jets have not been previously analyzed by the MOJAVE program. In the case of 451 jet features that had at least 10 epochs, we also examined their kinematics for possible accelerations. At least half of the well-sampled features have non-radial and/or accelerating trajectories, indicating that non-ballistic motion is common in AGN jets. Since it is impossible to extrapolate any accelerations that occurred before our monitoring period, we could only determine reliable ejection dates for~24% of those features that had significant proper motions. The distribution of maximum apparent jet speeds in all 295 AGNs measured by our program to date is peaked below c 5 , with very few jets with apparent speeds above c 30 . The fastest speed in our survey is c 50 , measured in the jet of the quasar PKS 0805−07, and is indicative of a maximum jet Lorentz factor of ∼50 in the parent population. An envelope in the maximum jet speed versus redshift distribution of our sample provides additional evidence of this upper limit to the speeds of radio-emitting regions in parsec-scale AGN jets. The Fermi-LAT-detected gamma-ray AGNs in our sample have, on average, higher jet speeds than non-LAT-detected AGNs, indicating a strong correlation between parsec-scale jet speed and the gamma-ray Doppler boosting factor. We have identified 11 moderate-redshift ( < z 0.35) AGNs with fast apparent speeds (> c 10 ) that are strong candidates for future TeV gamma-ray detection. Of the five gamma-ray loud narrow-lined Seyfert I AGNs in our sample, three show highly superluminal jet motions, while the others have sub-luminal speeds. This indicates that some narrowlined Seyfert I AGNs possess powerful jets with Lorentz factors in excess of 10, and viewing angles less than  10 , consistent with those of typical BL Lac objects and flat-spectrum radio quasars.

Aims. We have investigated a frequency-dependent shift in the absolute position of the optically thick apparent origin of parsec-scale jets ("core shift" effect) to probe physical conditions in ultra-compact relativistic outflows in active galactic nuclei. , and 88 μas, respectively, compared to the typical measured errors of 50, 51, 35 μas. The effect occurs predominantly along the jet direction, with departures smaller than 45 • from the median jet position angle in over 80% of the cases. Despite the moderate ratio of the observed frequencies (<2), core shifts significantly different from zero (>2σ) are detected for about 55% of the sources. These shifts are even better aligned with the jet direction, deviating from the latter by less than 30 • in over 90% of the cases. There is an indication that the core shift decreases with increasing redshift. Magnetic fields in the jet at a distance of 1 parsec from the central black hole, calculated from the obtained core shifts, are found to be systematically stronger in quasars (median B 1 ≈ 0.9 G) than those in BL Lacs (median B 1 ≈ 0.4 G). We also constrained the absolute distance of the core from the apex of the jet at 15 GHz as well as the magnetic field strength in the 15 GHz core region.

We present results from a parsec-scale jet kinematics study of 409 bright radio-loud AGNs based on 15 GHz VLBA data obtained between 1994 August 31 and 2016 December 26 as part of the 2cm VLBA survey and MOJAVE programs. We tracked 1744 individual bright features in 382 jets over at least five epochs. A majority (59%) of the best-sampled jet features showed evidence of accelerated motion at the > 3σ level. Although most features within a jet typically have speeds within ∼ 40% of a characteristic median value, we identified 55 features in 42 jets that had unusually slow pattern speeds, nearly all of which lie within 4 pc (100 pc deprojected) of the core feature. Our results combined with other speeds from the literature indicate a strong correlation between apparent jet speed and synchrotron peak frequency, with the highest jet speeds being found only in low-peaked AGNs. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we find best fit parent population parameters for a complete sample of 174 quasars above 1.5 Jy at 15 GHz. Acceptable fits are found with a jet population that has a simple unbeamed power law luminosity function incorporating pure luminosity evolution, and a power law Lorentz factor distribution ranging from 1.25 to 50 with slope −1.4 ± 0.2. The parent jets of the brightest radio quasars have a space density of 261 ± 19 Gpc −3 and unbeamed 15 GHz luminosities above ∼ 10 24.5 W Hz −1 , consistent with FR II class radio galaxies.

Aims. We have investigated the differences in apparent opening angles between the parsec-scale jets of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope during its first three months of operations and those of non-LAT-detected AGN. Methods. We used 15.4 GHz VLBA observations of sources from the 2 cm VLBA MOJAVE program, a subset of which comprises the statistically complete flux density limited MOJAVE sample. We determined the apparent opening angles by analyzing transverse jet profiles from the data in the image plane and by applying a model fitting technique to the data in the (u, v) plane. Both methods provided comparable opening angle estimates. Results. The apparent opening angles of γ-ray bright blazars are preferentially larger than those of γ-ray weak sources. At the same time, we have found the two groups to have similar intrinsic opening angle distributions, based on a smaller subset of sources. This suggests that the jets in γ-ray bright AGN are oriented at preferentially smaller angles to the line of sight resulting in a stronger relativistic beaming. The intrinsic jet opening angle and the bulk flow Lorentz factor are found to be inversely proportional, as predicted by standard models of compact relativistic jets. If a gas dynamical jet acceleration model is assumed, the ratio of the initial pressure of the plasma in the core region P 0 to the external pressure P ext lies within the range 1.1 to 34.6, with a best fit estimate of P 0 /P ext ≈ 2.

Context. The apparent position of the "core" in a parsec-scale radio jet (a compact, bright emitting region at the narrow end of the jet) depends on the observing frequency, owing to synchrotron self-absorption and external absorption. While providing a tool probing physical conditions in the vicinity of the core, this dependency poses problems for astrometric studies using compact radio sources. Aims. We investigated the frequency-dependent shift in the positions of the cores (core shift) observed with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) in parsec-scale jets. We discuss related physics, as well as its effect on radio astrometry and the connection between radio and optical positions of astrometric reference objects. Methods. We searched for the core shift in a sample of 277 radio sources imaged at 2.3 GHz (13 cm) and 8.6 GHz (4 cm) frequency bands using VLBI observations made in 2002 and 2003. The core shift was measured by referencing the core position to optically thin jet features whose positions are not expected to change with frequency. Results. We present here results for 29 selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) with bright distinct VLBI jet features that can be used in differential measurements and that allow robust measurements of the shift to be made. In these AGN, the magnitude of the measured core shift between 2.3 and 8.6 GHz reaches 1.4 mas, with a median value for the sample of 0.44 mas. Nuclear flares result in temporal variability of the shift.Conclusions. An average shift between the radio (4 cm) and optical (6000 Å) bands is estimated to be approximately 0.1 mas, and it should be taken into account in order to provide the required accuracy of the radio-optical reference frame connection. This can be accomplished with multi-frequency VLBI measurements yielding estimates of the core shift in the sources used for the radio reference frame and radio-optical position alignment.

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Context. The effect of a frequency dependent shift of the VLBI core position (known as the "core shift") was predicted more than three decades ago and has since been observed in a few sources, but often within a narrow frequency range. This effect has important astrophysical and astrometric applications. Aims. To achieve a broader understanding of the core shift effect and the physics behind it, we conducted a dedicated survey with NRAO's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). Methods. We used the VLBA to image 20 pre-selected sources simultaneously at nine frequencies in the 1.4-15.4 GHz range. The core position at each frequency was measured by referencing it to a bright, optically thin feature in the jet. Results. A significant core shift has been successfully measured in each of the twenty sources observed. The median value of the core shift is found to be 1.21 mas if measured between 1.4 and 15.4 GHz, and 0.24 mas between 5.0 and 15.4 GHz. The core position, r c , as a function of frequency, ν, is found to be consistent with an r c ∝ ν −1 law. This behavior is predicted by the Blandford & Königl model of a purely synchrotron self-absorbed conical jet in equipartition. No systematic deviation from unity of the power law index in the r c (ν) relation has been convincingly detected. Conclusions. We conclude that neither free-free absorption nor gradients in pressure and/or density in the jet itself and in the ambient medium surrounding the jet play a significant role in the sources observed within the 1.4-15.4 GHz frequency range. These results support the interpretation of the parsec-scale core as a continuous Blandford-Königl type jet with smooth gradients of physical properties along it.