Relativistic Beaming Model for Superluminal Velocities
The image below shows an example of superluminal motion of relativistic jets flowing outward from quasar 3C 279. This series of VLBI images, with pseudocolor intensity coding to enhance the visibility of the jet structures, follows the blazar 3C 279 over a three-year period. The prominent outer knots are moving with an apparent speed of 4c, typical for superluminal sources. The observations were taken from 1991-1994 with a resolution of about 0.2 milliarcsecond at a frequency of 22 GHz (1.3 cm), corresponding to about 2 ly at the object's distance.
