TANAMI - Tracking Active Galactic Nuclei with Austral Milliarcsecond Interferometry

Abstract

We present a summary of the observation strategy of TANAMI (Tracking Active Galactic Nuclei with Austral Milliarcsecond Interferometry), a monitoring program to study the parsec-scale structure and dynamics of relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN) of the Southern Hemisphere with the Australian Long Baseline Array (LBA) and the trans-oceanic antennas Hartebeesthoek, TIGO, and O'Higgins. TANAMI is focusing on extragalactic sources south of -30 degrees declination with observations at 8.4 GHz and 22 GHz every ~2 months at milliarcsecond resolution. The initial TANAMI sample of 43 sources has been defined before the launch of the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope to include the most promising candidates for bright gamma-ray emission to be detected with its Large Area Telescope (LAT). Since November 2008, we have been adding new sources to the sample, which now includes all known radio- and gamma-ray bright AGN of the Southern Hemisphere. The combination of VLBI and gamma-ray observations is crucial to understand the broadband emission characteristics of AGN and the nature of relativistic jets.