INTERFEROMETRIC MONITORING OF GAMMA-RAY BRIGHT AGNs. I. THE RESULTS OF SINGLE-EPOCH MULTIFREQUENCY OBSERVATIONS

Abstract

We present results of single-epoch very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of gamma-ray bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) at the 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz bands, which are part of a KVN key science program, Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma-Ray Bright AGNs. We selected a total of 34 radio-loud AGNs of which 30 sources are gamma-ray bright AGNs with flux densities of >6 x 10(-10) ph cm(-2) s(-1). Single-epoch multifrequency VLBI observations of the target sources were conducted during a 24 hr session on 2013 November 19 and 20. All observed sources were detected and imaged at all frequency bands, with or without a frequency phase transfer technique, which enabled the imaging of 12 faint sources at 129 GHz, except for one source. Many of the target sources are resolved on milliarcsecond scales, yielding a core-jet structure, with the VLBI core dominating the synchrotron emission on a milliarcsecond scale. CLEAN flux densities of the target sources are 0.43-28 Jy, 0.32-21 Jy, 0.18-11 Jy, and 0.35-8.0 Jy in the 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz bands, respectively. Spectra of the target sources become steeper at higher frequency, with spectral index means of -0.40, -0.62, and -1.00 in the 22-43 GHz, 43-86 GHz and 86-129 GHz bands, respectively, implying that the target sources become optically thin at higher frequencies (e.g., 86-129 GHz).