Parsec-scale jets in extragalactic radio sources

Observations of parsec-scale radio jets associated with active galactic nuclei are reviewed, with a particular emphasis on high-luminosity core-dominated sources where the most detailed information on individual objects exists. Extensive imaging surveys with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) have made possible a morphologic classification of compact radio sources and systematic studies of the statistics of apparent (often faster-than-light) motions found in an increasing number of sources. VLBI monitoring studies at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths, enhanced by spectral and polarization imaging, of representative types of AGN can discriminate detailed physical models. The observations are especially discussed in light of the variant of the relativistic beaming model that explains kinematic, spectral, and polarization properties of parsec-scale jets through shocks in an underlying continuous jet flow.