Object of the Week March 31, 2013 - M87 and the DRAGN within

[reiner]

Dragan,

very good object. That's about as close as one get's to observing a black hole. Do you know whether the counterjet had been imaged in visible wavelengths?

I have tried to observe the jet several times, but most times not successful. It probably depends mostly on the seeing. Two observations were successful. These are the notes during the first successful one (with 22"):

Increasing the power to 400x, the jet was relatively easy to discern as a short and thin appendix to the core of the galaxy. The length was only 20", in agreement with the literature. During a prior observation of Saturn at the same power, I had tried to memorize this dimension in order to get an estimate of what to expect. As to be expected, structures within the jet were not visible with my Dob. Using the small background galaxies (the small PGC galaxies, not the much brighter and larger NGC galaxies!), I could further verify the correct orientation of the observed structure. These faint galaxies can be helpful under less than optimal conditions and borderline observations.

You are right, you have to be aware about the apparent size of the jet structure, othwerwise the two non-NGC galaxies may be mistaken for the jet.

[Dragan]

Dragan,

very good object. That's about as close as one get's to observing a black hole. Do you know whether the counterjet had been imaged in visible wavelengths?

Thanks Reiner!

No, I can't say I've ever heard of the counterjet being observed nor imaged visually. Personally I'd have to think its an impossibility as it would lay, in theory, on the other side of the core.

I did hunt around the internet for a radio image depicting both jets but I did not find one. To be quite honest, some of that radio stuff boggles me and I'm not really all that certain what it is I'm looking at sometimes!

But maybe someone here on DSF with more knowledge than me may know of such an image.