Direct Measurement of the Jet Geometry in Seyfert Galaxies

Abstract

We demonstrate that by combining optical, radio, and X-ray observations of a Seyfert galaxy, it is possible to provide a direct measurement of the angle β between the direction of the radio jet and the normal to the plane of the spiral host galaxy. To do so, we make the assumptions that the inner radio jet is perpendicular to the X-ray observed inner accretion disk and that the observed jet (or the stronger component, if the jet is two-sided) is physically closer to Earth than the plane of the galaxy. We draw attention to the possibility that the measurement will produce a result that is not self-consistent, in which case, for that galaxy, one of the assumptions must fail.