A 1D fluid model of the Centaurus A jet

Sarka Wykes; Bradford T. Snios; Paul E. J. Nulsen; Ralph P. Kraft; Mark Birkinshaw; Martin J. Hardcastle; Diana M. Worrall; Iain McDonald; Marina Rejkuba; Thomas W. Jones; David J. Stark; William R. Forman; Eileen T. Meyer; Christine Jones

doi:10.1093/mnras/stz348

A 1D fluid model of the Centaurus A jet

Sarka Wykes, Bradford T. Snios, Paul E. J. Nulsen, Ralph P. Kraft, Mark Birkinshaw, Martin J. Hardcastle, Diana M. Worrall, Iain McDonald, Marina Rejkuba, Thomas W. Jones, David J. Stark, William R. Forman, Eileen T. Meyer, Christine Jones

Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR)

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Abstract

We implement a steady, one-dimensional flow model for the X-ray jet of Centaurus A in which entrainment of stellar mass loss is the primary cause of dissipation. Using over 260 ks of new and archival Chandra/ACIS data, we have constrained the temperature, density and pressure distributions of gas in the central regions of the host galaxy of Centaurus A, and so the pressure throughout the length of its jet. The model is constrained by the observed profiles of pressure and jet width, and conserves matter and energy, enabling us to estimate jet velocities, and hence all the other flow properties. Invoking realistic stellar populations within the jet, we find that the increase in its momentum flux exceeds the net pressure force on the jet unless only about one half of the total stellar mass loss is entrained. For self-consistent models, the bulk speed only falls modestly, from ~0.67c to ~0.52c over the range of 0.25-5.94 kpc from the nucleus. The sonic Mach number varies between ~5.3 and 3.6 over this range.

Original language	English
Article number	stz348
Pages (from-to)	872–888
Number of pages	17
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	485
Issue number	1
Early online date	8 Feb 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz348
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2019

Keywords

astro-ph.GA
astro-ph.HE

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1812.04587v3
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2020 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Final published version available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz348.
Accepted author manuscript, 543 KBLicence: Unspecified

Cite this

Wykes, S., Snios, B. T., Nulsen, P. E. J., Kraft, R. P., Birkinshaw, M., Hardcastle, M. J., Worrall, D. M., McDonald, I., Rejkuba, M., Jones, T. W., Stark, D. J., Forman, W. R., Meyer, E. T., & Jones, C. (2019). A 1D fluid model of the Centaurus A jet. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 485(1), 872–888. Article stz348. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz348

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abstract = "We implement a steady, one-dimensional flow model for the X-ray jet of Centaurus A in which entrainment of stellar mass loss is the primary cause of dissipation. Using over 260 ks of new and archival Chandra/ACIS data, we have constrained the temperature, density and pressure distributions of gas in the central regions of the host galaxy of Centaurus A, and so the pressure throughout the length of its jet. The model is constrained by the observed profiles of pressure and jet width, and conserves matter and energy, enabling us to estimate jet velocities, and hence all the other flow properties. Invoking realistic stellar populations within the jet, we find that the increase in its momentum flux exceeds the net pressure force on the jet unless only about one half of the total stellar mass loss is entrained. For self-consistent models, the bulk speed only falls modestly, from ~0.67c to ~0.52c over the range of 0.25-5.94 kpc from the nucleus. The sonic Mach number varies between ~5.3 and 3.6 over this range. ",

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author = "Sarka Wykes and Snios, {Bradford T.} and Nulsen, {Paul E. J.} and Kraft, {Ralph P.} and Mark Birkinshaw and Hardcastle, {Martin J.} and Worrall, {Diana M.} and Iain McDonald and Marina Rejkuba and Jones, {Thomas W.} and Stark, {David J.} and Forman, {William R.} and Meyer, {Eileen T.} and Christine Jones",

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AU - Jones, Thomas W.

AU - Stark, David J.

AU - Forman, William R.

AU - Meyer, Eileen T.

AU - Jones, Christine

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N2 - We implement a steady, one-dimensional flow model for the X-ray jet of Centaurus A in which entrainment of stellar mass loss is the primary cause of dissipation. Using over 260 ks of new and archival Chandra/ACIS data, we have constrained the temperature, density and pressure distributions of gas in the central regions of the host galaxy of Centaurus A, and so the pressure throughout the length of its jet. The model is constrained by the observed profiles of pressure and jet width, and conserves matter and energy, enabling us to estimate jet velocities, and hence all the other flow properties. Invoking realistic stellar populations within the jet, we find that the increase in its momentum flux exceeds the net pressure force on the jet unless only about one half of the total stellar mass loss is entrained. For self-consistent models, the bulk speed only falls modestly, from ~0.67c to ~0.52c over the range of 0.25-5.94 kpc from the nucleus. The sonic Mach number varies between ~5.3 and 3.6 over this range.

AB - We implement a steady, one-dimensional flow model for the X-ray jet of Centaurus A in which entrainment of stellar mass loss is the primary cause of dissipation. Using over 260 ks of new and archival Chandra/ACIS data, we have constrained the temperature, density and pressure distributions of gas in the central regions of the host galaxy of Centaurus A, and so the pressure throughout the length of its jet. The model is constrained by the observed profiles of pressure and jet width, and conserves matter and energy, enabling us to estimate jet velocities, and hence all the other flow properties. Invoking realistic stellar populations within the jet, we find that the increase in its momentum flux exceeds the net pressure force on the jet unless only about one half of the total stellar mass loss is entrained. For self-consistent models, the bulk speed only falls modestly, from ~0.67c to ~0.52c over the range of 0.25-5.94 kpc from the nucleus. The sonic Mach number varies between ~5.3 and 3.6 over this range.

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A 1D fluid model of the Centaurus A jet

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