Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) allows for high-resolution and high-sensitivity observations of relativistic jets, that can reveal periodicities of several years in their structure. We perform an analysis of long-term VLBI data of the quasar S5 1928+738 in terms of a geometric model of a helical structure projected onto the plane of the sky. We monitor the direction of the jet axis through its inclination and position angles. We decompose the variation of the inclination of the inner 2 mas of the jet of S5 1928+738 into a periodic term with amplitude of ∼0$ $_{.}^{\circ}$$89 and a linear decreasing trend with rate of ∼0$ $_{.}^{\circ}$$05 yr⁻¹. We also decompose the variation of the position angle into a periodic term with amplitude of ∼3$ $_{.}^{\circ}$$39 and a linear increasing trend with rate of ∼0$ $_{.}^{\circ}$$24 yr⁻¹. We interpret the periodic components as arising from the orbital motion of a binary black hole inspiralling at the jet base and derive corrected values of the mass ratio and separation from the accumulated 18 yr of VLBI data. Then, we identify the linear trends in the variations as due to the slow reorientation of the spin of the jet emitter black hole induced by the spin–orbit precession and we determine the precession period T_SO = 4852 ± 646 yr of the more massive black hole, acting as the jet emitter. Our study provides indications, for the first time from VLBI jet kinematics, for the spinning nature of the jet-emitting black hole.

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

We report results from a one-week multiwavelength campaign to monitor the BL Lacertae object (BL Lac) S5 0716+714 (on 2009 December 9–16). Nine groun

Blazars are a sub-class of quasars with Doppler boosted jets oriented close to the line of sight, and thus efficient probes of supermassive black hole growth and their environment, especially at high redshifts. Here we report on Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations of a blazar J0906 + 6930 at z = 5.47, which enabled the detection of polarised emission and measurement of jet proper motion at parsec scales. The observations suggest a less powerful jet compared with the general blazar population, including lower proper motion and bulk Lorentz factor. This coupled with a previously inferred high accretion rate indicate a transition from an accretion radiative power to a jet mechanical power based transfer of energy and momentum to the surrounding gas. While alternative scenarios could not be fully ruled out, our results indicate a possibly nascent jet embedded in and interacting with a dense medium resulting in a jet bending.