Relativistic Jet Motion in the Radio-quiet LINER Galaxy KISSR 872

Abstract

We report superluminal jet motion with an apparent speed of βapp = 1.65 ± 0.57 in the radio-quiet (RQ) lowionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) galaxy KISSR 872. This result comes from two-epoch phasereferenced very long baseline interferometry observations at 5 GHz. The detection of bulk relativistic motion in the jet of this extremely radio-faint active galactic nucleus (AGN), with a total 1.4 GHz flux density of 5 mJy in the 5"4 resolution Very Large Array FIRST survey image and 1.5 mJy in the ∼5 mas resolution Very Long Baseline Array image, is the first of its kind in an RQ LINER galaxy. The presence of relativistic jets in lower accretion rate objects like KISSR 872, with an Eddington ratio of 0.04, reveals that even RQ AGN can harbor relativistic jets and provides evidence of their universality over a wide range of accretion powers.