Emission from Large-scale Jets in Quasars
arXiv:0809.2620 · doi:10.1142/S0218271808013054
Abstract
We consider the emission processes in the large-scale jets of powerful quasars based on the results obtained with the VLA, Spitzer, Hubble, and Chandra. We show that two well-known jets, 3C 273 and PKS 1136-135, have two distinct spectral components on large-scales: (1) the low-energy (LE) synchrotron spectrum extending from radio to infrared, and (2) the high-energy (HE) component arising from optical and extending to X-rays. The X-ray emission in quasar jets is often attributed to inverse-Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons by radio-emitting electrons in a highly relativistic jet. However, recent data prefer synchrotron radiation by a second distinct population as the origin of the HE component. We anticipate that optical polarimetry with Hubble will establish the synchrotron nature of the HE component. Gamma-ray observations with GLAST (renamed as the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope), as well as future TeV observations, are expected to place important constraints on the jet models.
4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in a special issue of the International Journal of Modern Physics D, proceedings of "High Energy Phenomena in Relativistic Outflows", held in Dublin Sept 2007
References in corpus (7)
- X-ray Emission from Extragalactic Jets
- New Chandra observations of the jet in 3C273. I. Softer X-ray than radio spectra and the X-ray emission mechanism
- Shedding New Light on the 3C 273 Jet with the Spitzer Space Telescope
- Quasar X-ray jets: Gamma-ray diagnostics of the synchrotron and inverse Compton hypotheses, the case of 3C 273
- Hubble Space Telescope far-ultraviolet imaging of the jet in 3C273: a common emission component from optical to X-rays
- Deceleration from Entrainment in the jet of the quasar 1136-135?
- An Infrared Study of the Large-scale Jet in Quasar PKS 1136-135