Structural peculiarities of the AGN object 1803+784

Abstract

The structure of the AGN object 1803+784 has been investigated at a wavelength of 7 mm with a limiting angular resolution reaching 20 µas. The ejector nozzle surrounded by a ring structure, an accretion disk, has been identified. The nozzle size is ∼0.1 pc, the diameter of the ring structure is ∼1.4 pc, and its width is ∼0.25 pc. The reaction of the plasma flow produces a multimode precession responsible for the conical helical structure of the jet with a variable step and a curved axis. The viewing angle of the flow ejection is ∼40°. The central part of the ejected flow moving along the axis accelerates to a relativistic velocity. The apparent velocity reaches 12 s at a distance of ∼1 mas or ∼6 pc from the ejector. The outer part of the flow moves along a helix around a high-velocity component whose step is a factor of 4 smaller, because the longitudinal velocity is relatively low. The plasma is ejected almost toward the observer, as confirmed by its high brightness temperature T _b ≈ 8 × 10¹³ K and highly beamed emission. The polarized emission from the nozzle is axisymmetric. The orientation of the polarization of the flow along the whole length is aligned with the direction of its motion, suggesting the excitation of a ring magnetic field around it and self-focusing.