Fine structure of the jet from Cygnus A

The superfine structure of the bipolar outflow from the radio galaxy Cygnus A has been investigated at a wavelength of 2 cm. The surrounding thermal plasma inflows onto the disk and is transferred in a spiral to the center, with the plasma velocity and temperature increasing to relativistic values. The rotating bipolar outflow carries away an excess angular momentum as it is accumulated. The high-velocity central flow is surrounded by parallel chains of components, the tangential directions of the low-velocity flows. Rotation collimates the flow; ring currents, a longitudinal magnetic field, are generated in it. The size of the high-velocity jet exceeds the size of the counterjet by a factor of 3.5 due to the velocity difference: the acceleration of the flow moving along the field and its decelerationwhenmoving in a direction opposite to the magnetic field of the system. The observed features are typical of objects with active nuclei.