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W. Junor (University of New Mexico), J.A. Biretta (Space Telescope Science Institute), J.F.C. Wardle (Brandeis U.), K. Kellermann (Nation Radio Astronomy Observatory), F.N. Owen (National Radio Astronomy Observatory)
Very Long Baseline Array U, X and C~band polarimetric observations have been made of the inner 100 mas of the bright, radio jet in the nearby active galactic nucleus, Vir A (3C274). The angular resolution of the observations is approximately 1 milliarcsecond corresponding to a linear scale of about 0.08 pc. The jet is substantially limb-brightened along its length. Linear polarization of a few tens of per cent has been detected in some locations along the edges of the jet between 15 and 40 mas from the core. Using observations over widely-separated frequencies in these bands, the Faraday rotation of the plane of polarization is estimated to be approximately 4400 rad m-2. The alignment of the de-rotated, projected, magnetic field vectors are compared with features in the jet. The polarization images are consistent with rotation by a dense Faraday screen.
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation.