DISCOVERY OF A NUCLEAR COUNTERJET IN NGC-1275 - A NEW WAY TO PROBE THE PARSEC-SCALE ENVIRONMENT

We present a high dynamic range 22 GHz VLBI image of the core of NGC 1 275 (3C 84) and discuss the evolution of some of the features seen in previous 22 GHz images. In addition, our image reveals for the first t ime a feature which is part of the (northern) counterjet. It is extend ed, and comparison with an 8 GHz image of Walker, Romney, & Benson (19 94), which also shows the northern component, indicates that it has a strongly inverted spectrum, unlike the southern features. A simple exp lanation is that gas in a roughly toroidal or disklike region obscures the counterjet through free-free absorption. Simultaneous multifreque ncy VLBI observations may provide a new method of probing the parsec-s cale environment in nearby galactic nuclei.