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Super-luminal expansion in extragalactic radio sources

Nature volume 267, pages 211–216 (1977)Cite this article

Abstract

Very long baseline (VLB) investigations of compact extragalactic radio sources can often be interpreted in terms of two non-thermal components apparently separating with speeds in excess of the speed of light. Given the conventional physical laws and the cosmological interpretation of large redshifts, the available morphological evidence, while inconclusive, is most compatible with a general class of models in which a signal propagating with a speed close to that of light is scattered by an appropriately shaped screen. Possible observations are discussed which might discriminate between this and alternative explanations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, 91125

    R. D. Blandford

  2. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720

    C. F. McKee

  3. Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK

    M. J. Rees

Authors
  1. R. D. Blandford
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  2. C. F. McKee
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  3. M. J. Rees
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Blandford, R., McKee, C. & Rees, M. Super-luminal expansion in extragalactic radio sources. Nature 267, 211–216 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/267211a0

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