Radiointerferometric Observational Capabilities of Relativistic Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei for the “Millimetron”

The paper presents the analysis of observational capabilities of the Millimetron observatory’s very-long- baseline radio interferometry mode for active galactic nuclei to obtain two-dimensional images of these objects with high angular resolution. The observatory, with its 10-meter mirror, will conduct observations in the very long baseline radio interferometry mode together with ground telescopes in the frequency range of 43–345 GHz (wavelength range of 7–0.7 mm). Due to the orbit in the vicinity of the L2 Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, the maximum angular resolution will be up to 0.8 (43 GHz), 0.4 (100 GHz), 0.14 (230 GHz) and 0.1 (345 GHz) microarcseconds. Obtaining images with high angular resolution not only allows one to study the vicinity of nearby supermassive black holes, but also opens up new possibilities in studying the structure and dynamics of relativistic jets of active galactic nuclei and investigating the core shift effect. Based on the previously calculated nominal orbit for the Millimetron observatory, an analysis of the observational capabilities of 379 sources previously observed within the Radioastron mission scientific program was performed. The fundamental capabilities of obtaining radio images of 13 sources with a specific possible time and duration of such observations were demonstrated. The obtained results have broad practical significance in terms of further planning and development of the scientific program for the space-ground interferometer mode of the Millimetron observatory.