Identifying the Secondary Jet in the RadioAstron Image of OJ 287

Abstract

The 136 yr long optical light curve of OJ 287 is explained by a binary black hole model where the secondary is in a 12 yr orbit around the primary. Impacts of the secondary on the accretion disk of the primary generate a series of optical flares that follow a quasi-Keplerian relativistic mathematical model. The orientation of the binary in space is determined from the behavior of the primary jet. Here, we ask how the jet of the secondary black hole projects onto the sky plane. Assuming that the jet is initially perpendicular to the disk, and that it is ballistic, we follow its evolution after the Lorentz transformation to the observer’s frame. Since the orbital speed of the secondary is of the order of one-tenth of the speed of light, the result is a change in the jet direction by more than a radian during an orbital cycle. We match the theoretical jet line with the recent 12 μas resolution RadioAstron map of OJ 287 and determine the only free parameter of the problem, the apparent speed of the jet relative to speed of light. It turns out that the Doppler factor of the jet, δ ∼ 5, is much lower than in the primary jet. Besides following a unique shape of the jet path, the secondary jet is also distinguished by a different spectral shape than in the primary jet. The present result on the spectral shape agrees with the huge optical flare of 2021 November 12, also arising from the secondary jet.