New results on particle acceleration in the Centaurus A jet and counterjet from a deep Chandra observation

Abstract

We present new deep Chandra observations of the Centaurus A jet, with a combined on-source exposure time of 719 ks. These data allow detailed X-ray spectral measurements to be made along the jet out to its disappearance at 4.5 kpc from the nucleus. We distinguish several regimes of high-energy particle acceleration: while the inner part of the jet is dominated by knots and has properties consistent with local particle acceleration at shocks, the particle acceleration in the outer 3.4 kpc of the jet is likely to be dominated by an unknown distributed acceleration mechanism. In addition to several compact counterjet features we detect probable extended emission from a counterjet out to 2.0 kpc from the nucleus, and argue that this implies that the diffuse acceleration process operates in the counterjet as well. A preliminary search for X-ray variability finds no jet knots with dramatic flux density variations, unlike the situation seen in M87.

ApJ L accepted. 4 pages, 4 figures. Some figures reduced in quality, publication-quality version available at http://hercules.herts.ac.uk/~mjh/cena-jet.pdf

References in corpus (3)

• The Discovery of Cepheids and a Distance to NGC 5128
• A Chandra study of particle acceleration in the multiple hotspots of nearby radio galaxies
• The infrared jet in Centaurus A: multiwavelength constraints on emission mechanisms and particle acceleration

Cited by in corpus (28)

• On the Momentum Diffusion of Radiating Ultrarelativistic Electrons in a Turbulent Magnetic Field
• High-energy particle acceleration at the radio-lobe shock of Centaurus A
• [On the jet contribution to the AGN cosmic energy budget
• Internal entrainment and the origin of jet-related broad-band emission in Centaurus A
• Resolving acceleration to very high energies along the Jet of Centaurus A
• Multifrequency VLA observations of the FR I radio galaxy 3C 31: morphology, spectrum and magnetic field
• Low-Mass X-ray Binaries and Globular Clusters in Centaurus A
• Luminosity functions of LMXBs in Centaurus A: globular clusters versus the field
• Chandra Reveals Twin X-ray Jets in the Powerful FR-II Radio Galaxy 3C353
• Variability and Proper Motion of X-ray Knots in the Jet of Centaurus A
• Hubble Space Telescope observations of an extraordinary flare in the M87 jet
• Where Centaurus A gets its X-ray knottiness
• Observational Effects of Anomalous Boundary Layers in Relativistic Jets
• Gamma-ray fluxes from the core emission of Centaurus A: A puzzle solved
• Neutrino, $\gamma$-ray and cosmic ray fluxes from the core of the closest radio galaxies
• Evidence for Non-Hydrostatic Gas Motions in the Hot ISM of Centaurus A
• Hadronic origin of multi-TeV gamma rays and neutrinos from low-luminosity active galactic nuclei: implications of past activities of the Galactic center
• A Transient Black-Hole Low-Mass X-Ray Binary Candidate in Centaurus A
• Stochastic Acceleration in the Western Hotspot of Pictor A
• Globular Clusters and X-ray Point Sources in Centaurus A (NGC 5128)
• A numerical study of the interplay between Fermi acceleration mechanisms in radio lobes of FR-II radio galaxies
• What determines the properties of the X-ray jets in FR-I radio galaxies?
• Gamma Rays from Centaurus A
• Scalings of the synchrotron cut-off and turbulent correlation of active galactic nucleus jets
• MICONIC: JWST/MIRI-MRS reveals heavily reprocessed PAH emission in the circum-nuclear disc of Centaurus A
• Active Galactic Nuclei - the Physics of Individual Sources and the Cosmic History of Formation and Evolution
• A (likely) X-ray jet from NGC6217 observed by XMM-Newton
• A Multi-Mission Catalogue of Ultraluminous X-ray Source Candidates