AN X-RAY IMAGING SURVEY OF QUASAR JETS: TESTING THE INVERSE COMPTON MODEL
We present results from continued Chandra X-ray imaging and spectroscopy of a flux-limited sample of flat spectrum radio-emitting quasars with jet-like extended structure. X-rays are detected from 24 of the 39 jets observed so far. We compute the distribution of α [subscript rx], the spectral index...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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IOP Publishing
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95735 |
| _version_ | 1826189087042699264 |
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| author | Schwartz, D. A. Murphy, D. W. Lovell, J. E. J. Worrall, D. M. Birkinshaw, M. Perlman, E. S. Godfrey, L. E. H. Jauncey, D. L. Gelbord, Jonathan Marshall, Herman |
| author2 | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research |
| author_facet | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Schwartz, D. A. Murphy, D. W. Lovell, J. E. J. Worrall, D. M. Birkinshaw, M. Perlman, E. S. Godfrey, L. E. H. Jauncey, D. L. Gelbord, Jonathan Marshall, Herman |
| author_sort | Schwartz, D. A. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We present results from continued Chandra X-ray imaging and spectroscopy of a flux-limited sample of flat spectrum radio-emitting quasars with jet-like extended structure. X-rays are detected from 24 of the 39 jets observed so far. We compute the distribution of α [subscript rx], the spectral index between the X-ray and radio bands, showing that it is broad, extending at least from 0.8 to 1.2. While there is a general trend that the radio brightest jets are detected most often, it is clear that predicting the X-ray flux from the radio knot flux densities is risky, so a shallow X-ray survey is the most effective means for finding jets that are X-ray bright. We test the model in which the X-rays result from inverse Compton (IC) scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons by relativistic electrons in the jet moving with a high bulk Lorentz factor nearly along the line of sight. Depending on how the jet magnetic fields vary with z, the observed X-ray to radio flux ratios do not follow the redshift dependence expected from the IC-CMB model. For a subset of our sample with known superluminal motion based on VLBI observations, we estimate the angle of the kiloparsec-scale jet to the line of sight by considering the additional information in the bends observed between parsec- and kiloparsec-scale jets. These angles are sometimes much smaller than estimates based on the IC-CMB model with a Lorentz factor of 15, indicating that these jets may decelerate significantly from parsec scales to kiloparsec scales. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:09:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/95735 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:09:20Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/957352022-09-23T11:15:29Z AN X-RAY IMAGING SURVEY OF QUASAR JETS: TESTING THE INVERSE COMPTON MODEL Schwartz, D. A. Murphy, D. W. Lovell, J. E. J. Worrall, D. M. Birkinshaw, M. Perlman, E. S. Godfrey, L. E. H. Jauncey, D. L. Gelbord, Jonathan Marshall, Herman MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Marshall, Herman Lee Gelbord, Jonathan We present results from continued Chandra X-ray imaging and spectroscopy of a flux-limited sample of flat spectrum radio-emitting quasars with jet-like extended structure. X-rays are detected from 24 of the 39 jets observed so far. We compute the distribution of α [subscript rx], the spectral index between the X-ray and radio bands, showing that it is broad, extending at least from 0.8 to 1.2. While there is a general trend that the radio brightest jets are detected most often, it is clear that predicting the X-ray flux from the radio knot flux densities is risky, so a shallow X-ray survey is the most effective means for finding jets that are X-ray bright. We test the model in which the X-rays result from inverse Compton (IC) scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons by relativistic electrons in the jet moving with a high bulk Lorentz factor nearly along the line of sight. Depending on how the jet magnetic fields vary with z, the observed X-ray to radio flux ratios do not follow the redshift dependence expected from the IC-CMB model. For a subset of our sample with known superluminal motion based on VLBI observations, we estimate the angle of the kiloparsec-scale jet to the line of sight by considering the additional information in the bends observed between parsec- and kiloparsec-scale jets. These angles are sometimes much smaller than estimates based on the IC-CMB model with a Lorentz factor of 15, indicating that these jets may decelerate significantly from parsec scales to kiloparsec scales. Chandra X-ray Center (U.S.) (Grant GO4-5124X) 2015-02-27T16:52:59Z 2015-02-27T16:52:59Z 2011-03 2010-05 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0067-0049 1538-4365 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95735 Marshall, H. L., J. M. Gelbord, D. A. Schwartz, D. W. Murphy, J. E. J. Lovell, D. M. Worrall, M. Birkinshaw, E. S. Perlman, L. Godfrey, and D. L. Jauncey. “An X-Ray IMAGING SURVEY OF QUASAR JETS: TESTING THE INVERSE COMPTON MODEL.” The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 193, no. 1 (March 1, 2011): 15. © The American Astronomical Society en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/193/1/15 The Astrophysical Journal. Supplement Series Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf IOP Publishing American Astronomical Society |
| spellingShingle | Schwartz, D. A. Murphy, D. W. Lovell, J. E. J. Worrall, D. M. Birkinshaw, M. Perlman, E. S. Godfrey, L. E. H. Jauncey, D. L. Gelbord, Jonathan Marshall, Herman AN X-RAY IMAGING SURVEY OF QUASAR JETS: TESTING THE INVERSE COMPTON MODEL |
| title | AN X-RAY IMAGING SURVEY OF QUASAR JETS: TESTING THE INVERSE COMPTON MODEL |
| title_full | AN X-RAY IMAGING SURVEY OF QUASAR JETS: TESTING THE INVERSE COMPTON MODEL |
| title_fullStr | AN X-RAY IMAGING SURVEY OF QUASAR JETS: TESTING THE INVERSE COMPTON MODEL |
| title_full_unstemmed | AN X-RAY IMAGING SURVEY OF QUASAR JETS: TESTING THE INVERSE COMPTON MODEL |
| title_short | AN X-RAY IMAGING SURVEY OF QUASAR JETS: TESTING THE INVERSE COMPTON MODEL |
| title_sort | x ray imaging survey of quasar jets testing the inverse compton model |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95735 |
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