Geodetic VLBI Observations of EGRET Blazars

We present VLBI observations of the EGRET quasars 0202+149, CTA 26, and 1606+106, as well as additional analysis of VLBI observations of 1156+295 presented in a previous letter. We have produced 8 and 2 GHz VLBI images at 11 epochs, 8 epochs, and 12 epochs, spanning the years 1989-1996, of 0202+149, CTA 26, and 1606+106, respectively. The VLBI data have been taken from the Washington VLBI correlator's geodetic database. We have measured the apparent velocities of the jet components and find that CTA 26 and 1606+106 are superluminal sources, with average apparent speeds of 8.9 and 2.9 h-1c, respectively (H0 = 100 h km s-1 Mpc-1, q0 = 0.5). The components in 0202+149 are stationary, and we identify this source as a compact F double. These sources all have apparently bent jets, and we detected nonradial motion of components in CTA 26 and 1156+295. We have not yet detected any components emerging subsequent to the γ-ray flares in CTA 26, 1156+295, and 1606+106, and we derive lower limits on the ejection times of any such components. The misalignment angle distribution of the EGRET sources is compared to the distribution for blazars as a whole, and we find that EGRET sources belong preferentially to neither the aligned nor the misaligned population. We also compare the average values for the apparent velocities and Doppler beaming factors for the EGRET and non-EGRET blazars, and find no significant differences. We thus find no indication, within the measurement errors, that EGRET blazars are any more strongly beamed than their counterparts that have not been detected in γ-rays.