Relativistic Jets in Astrophysics

by

Christian Kaiser
11 September 2001

Relativistic jets are observed in a number of types of astrophysical objects. In this talk I will review the similarities and differences in particular between jets in AGNs and those recently found in microquasars our own Galaxy. I also discuss some of the problems facing us in building theoretical models for these objects.

Centaurus A

Chandra image of Centaurus A that shows a jet emanating from a bright central source that has been identified as an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) suspected harboring a supermassive black hole. [Credit, NASA/SAO; Kraft et al., 2000].



GRS 1915+105

Time sequence of radio images of GRS 1915+105, the first microquasar discovered in our own galaxy. The images are separated in time by only one day with the advance of the bright 'knots' along the jets is clearly visible.




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