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Detection of Parsec-Scale Circular Polarization with the VLBA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

D. C. Homan
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254, USA
J. F.C. Wardle
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254, USA
R. Ojha
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254, USA
D. H. Roberts
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254, USA

Abstract

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Circular polarization has been detected in 3C 279 and 3C 84 at multiple epochs, using the VLBA at 15 GHz. This is the first detection of circular polarization in a compact radio source at VLBI resolution. In the case of 3C 279 the polarization is most likely produced by the conversion of linear to circular polarization by low energy relativistic electrons in the emitting region. If this is so, the absence of Faraday rotation by the same electrons suggests that the jet consists of an electron-positron plasma.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1998