Radio Jet in 3C120 November 4, 2003 This pseudo color image
shows the structure of the 1.66 GHz emission from the radio
source 3C120 as measured by the VLBA in June 1994. The
resolution is 0.015 by 0.007 arcseconds with the higher
resolution in the east-west direction. The radio jet is seen
extending from the bright core region, where the energy is
presumably generated, to about 0.5 arcseconds, or almost 1000
light years. Other observations with both VLBI and the VLA have
shown this source to have emission on scales from significantly
less than a light year to well over a million light years. The
inner few light years of the jet have long been known to show
motions of components at speeds faster than that of light. This
is the well known "superluminal motion" seen in many bright,
compact radio sources. No violation of relativity is involved,
just a projection effect for a source moving near the speed of
light almost directly toward the observer. Topics:
Interferometry, Astrophysics, Radio astronomy, energy, T