Many theoretical models of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) predict that the X-ray corona, lying above the black hole, constitutes the base of the X-ray jet. Thus, by studying the exact geometry of the close black hole environment, we can pinpoint the launching site of the jet. Detection of negative X-ray reverberation time delays (i.e. soft band X-ray variations lagging behind the corresponding hard band X-ray variations) can yield significant information about the geometrical properties of the AGN, such as the location of the X-ray source, as well as the physical properties of the the black hole, such as its mass and spin. In the frame-work of the lamp-post geometry, I present the first systematic X-ray time-lag modelling results of an ensemble of 12 AGN, using a fully general relativistic (GR) ray tracing approach for the estimation of the systems' response functions. By combing these state-of-the art GR response models with statistically innovative fitting routines, I derive the geometrical layout of the close BH environment for each source, unveiling the position of the AGN jet-base.

AGN reverberate when the broad emission lines respond to changes of the ionizing thermal continuum emission. Reverberation measurements have been commonly used to estimate the size of the broad-line region (BLR) and the mass of the central black hole. However, reverberation mapping studies have been mostly performed on radio-quiet sources where the contribution of the jet can be neglected. In radio-loud AGN, jets and outflows may affect substantially the relation observed between the ionizing continuum and the line emission. To investigate this relation, we have conducted a series of multi-wavelength studies of radio-loud AGN, combining optical spectral line monitoring with regular VLBI observations. Our results suggest that at least a fraction of the broad-line emitting material can be located in a sub-relativistic outflow ionized by non-thermal continuum emission generated in the jet at large distances (> 1 pc) from the central engine of AGN. This finding may have a strong impact on black hole mass estimates based on measured widths of the broad emission lines and on the gamma-ray emission mechanisms.

The jet phenomenon is a trademark of active galactic nuclei (AGN). In most general terms, the current understanding of this phenomenon explains the jet appearance by effects of relativistic plasma physics. The fundamental source of energy that feeds the plasma flow is believed to be the gravitational field of a central supermassive black hole. While the mechanism of energy transfer and a multitude of effects controlling the plasma flow are yet to be understood, major properties of jets are strikingly similar in a broad range of scales from stellar to galactic. They are supposed to be controlled by a limited number of physical parameters, such as the mass of a central black hole and its spin, magnetic field induction and accretion rate. In a very simplified sense, these parameters define the formation of a typical core–jet structure observed at radio wavelengths in the region of the innermost central tens of parsecs in AGN. These core–jet structures are studied in the radio domain by Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) with milli- and sub-milliarcsecond angular resolution. Such structures are detectable at a broad range of redshifts. If observed at a fixed wavelength, a typical core–jet AGN morphology would appear as having a steep-spectrum jet fading away with the increasing redshift while a flat-spectrum core becoming more dominant. If core–jet AGN constitute the same population of objects throughout the redshift space, the apparent “prominence” of jets at higher redshifts must decrease (Gurvits 1999): well pronounced jets at high z must appear less frequent than at low z.

We have undertaken a Spitzer campaign to measure the IR structures and spectra of low-redshift 3CRR radio galaxies. The results show that the 3.6 – 160 μm infrared properties vary systematically with integrated source power, and so demonstrate that contemporary core activity is characteristic of the behaviour of sources over their lifetimes. IR synchrotron emission is seen from jets and hotspots in some cases. Thermal emission is found from a jet/gas interaction in NGC7385. Most of the near-IR integrated colours of the low-redshift 3CRR radio galaxies are similar to those of passive galaxies, so that IR colours are poor indicators of radio activity.

Radio sources are divided into two distinct morphological groups of objects: Fanaroff-Riley type I and type II sources. There is a relatively sharp luminosity boundary between these at low frequency. The nature of the FR division is still an open issue, as are the details of the evolutionary process in which younger and smaller GHz-peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact steep spectrum (CSS) sources become large-scale radio structures. It is still unclear whether FRII objects evolve to become FRIs, or whether a division has already occurred amongst CSS sources and some of these then become FRIs and some FRIIs. We explored evolution scenarios of AGNs using new radio, optical and X-ray data of unstudied so far Low Luminosity Compact (LLC) sources. We suggest that the determining factors of the further evolution of compact radio objects could occur at subgalactic (or even nuclear) scales, or they could be related to the radio jet - interstellar medium (ISM) interactions and evolution. Our studies show that the evolutionary track could be related to the interaction, strength of the radio source and excitation levels of the ionized gas instead of the radio morphology of the young radio source.

Accreting supermassive black holes and starburst regions influence their host galaxies through kinetic/radiative feedback processes. To better understand the gas evolution of a Seyfert galaxy, in this study we perform fully 3D hydrodynamical simulations with radiative cooling considering the presence of star formation regions, supernova feedback and small-scale (1 kpc) jet propagation in the central region of an active spiral galaxy. We compute the gas mass lost by the system and we conclude that a kpc-scale outflow is generally established only when a nuclear starburst region is coupled to a supermassive black hole jet.

The nearby radio galaxy M87 offers a unique opportunity for exploring the connection between γ-ray production and jet formation at an unprecedented linear resolution. However, the origin and location of the γ-rays in this source is still elusive. Based on previous radio/TeV correlation events, the unresolved jet base (radio core) and the peculiar knot HST-1 at >120 pc from the nucleus are proposed as candidate site(s) of γ-ray production. Here we report our intensive, high-resolution radio monitoring observations of the M87 jet with the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) and the European VLBI Network (EVN) from February 2011 to October 2012. During this period, an elevated level of the M87 flux is reported at TeV with VERITAS. We detected a remarkable flux increase in the radio core with VERA at 22/43 GHz coincident with the VHE activity. Meanwhile, HST-1 remained quiescent in terms of its flux density and structure at radio. These results strongly suggest that the TeV γ-ray activity in 2012 originates in the jet base within 0.03 pc (projected) from the central supermassive black hole.

Recent measurements of frequency-dependent shift of radio-core locations indicate that the ratio of the magnetic to kinetic energy flux (the σ parameter) is of the order of unity. These results are consistent with predictions of magnetically-arrested-disk (MAD) models of a jet formation, but contradict the predictions of leptonic models of γ-ray production in luminous blazars. We demonstrate this discrepancy by computing the γ-ray-to-synchrotron luminosity ratio (the q parameter) as a function of a distance from the black hole for different values of σ and using both spherical and planar models for broad-line region and dusty torus. We find that it is impossible to reproduce observed q ≫ 1 for jets with σ ≥ 1. This may indicate that blazar radiation is produced in reconnection layers or in spines of magnetically stratified jets.

Due to its high angular resolution, the Chandra Observatory has allowed the discovery and detailed study of extragalactic X-ray jets. Although supermassive black holes are regularly found in the cores of massive galaxies and X-ray emission is detected from ~80% of these, X-ray and radio jets are only detected in a small fraction of “normal” galaxies. X-ray jets are either single-sided or double-sided and, with only one possible exception, are found to have radio emission. However many radio jets are not detected in current X-ray observations. The expanding jets produce cavities in the surrounding hot gas in the galaxy halos. By determining how much gas has been pushed out of these cavities, we can determine the mechanical energy and power of the jet.

Bent-tailed (BT) radio sources have long been known to trace over densities in the Universe up to z ~ 1 and there is increasing evidence this association persists out to redshifts of 2. The morphology of the jets in BT galaxies is primarily a function of the environment that they have resided in and so BTs provide invaluable clues as to their local conditions. Thus, not only can samples of BT galaxies be used as signposts of large-scale structure, but are also valuable for obtaining a statistical measurement of properties of the intra-cluster medium including the presence of cluster accretion shocks & winds, and as historical anemometers, preserving the dynamical history of their surroundings in their jets. We discuss the use of BTs to unveil large-scale structure and provide an example in which a BT was used to unlock the dynamical history of its host cluster. In addition to their use as density and dynamical indicators, BTs are useful probes of the magnetic field on their environment on scales which are inaccessible to other methods. Here we discuss a novel way in which a particular sub-class of BTs, the so-called ‘corkscrew’ galaxies might further elucidate the coherence lengths of the magnetic fields in their vicinity. Given that BTs are estimated to make up a large population in next generation surveys we posit that the use of jets in this way could provide a unique source of environmental information for clusters and groups up to z = 2.

We have completed a Chandra snapshot survey of 54 radio jets that are extended on arcsec scales. These are associated with flat spectrum radio quasars spanning a redshift range z=0.3 to 2.1. X-ray emission is detected from the jet of approximately 60% of the sample objects. We assume minimum energy and apply conditions consistent with the original Felten-Morrison calculations in order to estimate the Lorentz factors and the apparent Doppler factors. This allows estimates of the enthalpy fluxes, which turn out to be comparable to the radiative luminosities.

We are undertaking a detailed investigation, based on the available evidence, of the sequence of events that led to the historical discovery of the first quasar, 3C273.

Feedback provided by relativistic jets may be effective in shaping the galaxy luminosity function. The quenching mode (quasar mode) at redshifts ~2-3 potentially disperses gas in star-forming galaxies. The maintenance mode (radio mode) heats the gas in galaxy clusters counteracting cooling flows. A number of authors have examined the effect of relativistic jets in dispersing clouds in the kpc-scale inhomogeneous interstellar medium of evolving galaxies. We have also investigated a particular case of maintenance-mode feedback in our simulation of the iconic radio galaxy / cooling flow cluster Hydra A. Modelling of the knots produced by the jets in the inner 10 kpc provides an estimate of 0.8 – 0.9 c for the velocities of the jets in agreement with other velocity estimates for FR1 jets. The addition of jet precession provides realistic simulations of the morphology of the Hydra A radio source and raises interesting questions as to the role of black hole and disk precession, in general, in galaxy formation.

Long GRBs are related to the death of massive stars and reveal themselves through synchrotron emission from highly relativistic jets. The ‘Christmas Burst’ GRB 101225A was an exceptionally long GRB with a thermal afterglow, very different from the standard GRB. Initially, no spectroscopic redshift could be obtained and SED modeling yielded z=0.33. A plausible model was a He-NS star merger where the He-star had ejected part of its envelope in the common envelope phase during inspiral. The interaction between the jet and the previously ejected shell can explains the thermal emission. We obtained deep spectroscopy of the host galaxy which leads to a correction of the redshift to z=0.847. Despite the higher redshift, our model is still valid and theoretically better justified than the alternative suggestion of a blue supergiant progenitor proposed by Levan et al. (2014) for several “ultra-long” GRBs.

In this talk we present a novel way to use optical polarimetric observations to provide independent constraints and guide to the modelling of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of blazars. The approach is particularly useful to judge when a two-zone model description of the SED of the source is required and is able to provide with extra information that helps breaking some of the degeneracies on the fit parameters of the two SSC model components. The method will be presented in some detail and will be subsequently applied to the 2008 multi-wavelength campaign of PKS 2155-304 as an illustration of its potential.

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory is a wide-field gamma-ray detector sensitive to primary energies between 100 GeV and 100 TeV. The array is being built at an altitude of 4100 m a.s.l. on the Sierra Negra volcano near Puebla, Mexico. Data taking has already started while construction continues, with the completion projected for early 2015. The design is optimized to detect extended air showers induced by gamma rays that pass through the array and to reconstruct the directions and energies of the primary photons. With a duty cycle close to 100% and a daily coverage of ~8 sr of the sky, HAWC will perform a survey of TeV emissions from many different sources. The northern active galactic nuclei will be monitored for up to 6 hours each day, providing unprecedented light curve coverage at energies comparable to those of imaging air Cherenkov telescopes. HAWC has been in scientific operation with more than 100 detector modules since August 2013. Here we present a preliminary look at the first results and discuss the efforts to integrate HAWC in multi-wavelength studies of extragalactic jets.

We present a multi-wavelength study of the radio galaxy PKS J0334-3900, which resides at the centre of Abell 3135. Using Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) observations at 1.4, 2.5, 4.6 & 8.6 GHz, we performed a detailed analysis of PKS J0334-3900. The morphology and spectral indices give physical parameters that constrain the dynamical history of the galaxy, which we use to produce a simulation of PKS J0334-3900. This simulation shows that the morphology can be generated by a wind in the intracluster medium (ICM), orbital motion caused by a companion galaxy, and precession of the black hole (BH).

Additionally, ATCA polarisation data was used to obtain rotation measure values along the line of sight to PKS J0334-3900. Using our simulation we are able to infer the distance between the jets along the line of sight to be 154 ± 16 kpc, which when combined with the difference in rotation measure between the jets provides a novel new way to estimate the average magnetic field within the cluster. A lower limit to the cluster magnetic field was calculated to be 0.09±0.03 μG. We have shown that different techniques can be applied to observations of jets in galaxies to infer information on cluster environments.

We have used the broadband backend available at the ATCA to study the fast interstellar scintillation (ISS) of quasar PKS 1257–326, resolving the core shift as a function of frequency on scales less than 10 microarcseconds. In this short paper we discuss the jet direction implied from the microarcsecond-scale core shift in PKS 1257–326.

We present a multifrequency analysis of the variability in the flat-spectrum radio quasar 3C 279 from 2008 to 2014. Our multiwavelength dataset includes gamma-ray data from Fermi/LAT (Abdo et al. 2009), observations in 1mm from SMA (Gurwell et al. 2007), Near Infrared from OAGH (Carramiñana & Carrasco 2009) and SMARTS (Bonning et al. 2012); optical V band from the Steward Observatory (Smith et al. 2009) and SMARTS; optical spectra from OAGH (Patiño-Álvarez et al. 2013) and the Steward Observatory; and polarization spectra from the Steward Observatory. The light curves are shown in Fig. 1. Six out of seven optical activity periods identified within our dataset show clear counterparts in mm, NIR and gamma-rays, however, the late 2011 - early 2012 optical flare does not have a counterpart in the GeV regime. In this contribution, we discuss the flaring evolution of 3C 279 and speculate about the production of the anomalous activity period.