A flare in the jet of Pictor A

H.L. Marshall; M.J. Hardcastle; M. Birkinshaw; J.H. Croston; D. Evans; H. Landt; E. Lenc; F. Massaro; E. Perlman; D.A. Schwartz; A. Siemiginowska; L. Stawarz; C.M. Urry; D.M. Worrall

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/714/2/L213

A flare in the jet of Pictor A

H.L. Marshall, M.J. Hardcastle, M. Birkinshaw, J.H. Croston, D. Evans, H. Landt, E. Lenc, F. Massaro, E. Perlman, D.A. Schwartz, A. Siemiginowska, L. Stawarz, C.M. Urry, D.M. Worrall

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Abstract

A Chandra X-ray imaging observation of the jet in Pictor A showed a feature that appears to be a flare that faded between 2000 and 2002. The feature was not detected in a follow-up observation in 2009. The jet itself is over 150 kpc long and about 1 kpc wide, so finding year-long variability is surprising. Assuming a synchrotron origin of the observed high-energy photons and a minimum energy condition for the outflow, the synchrotron loss time of the X-ray emitting electrons is of order 1200 years, which is much longer than the observed variability timescale. This leads to the possibility that the variable X-ray emission arises from a very small sub-volume of the jet, characterized by a magnetic field that is substantially larger than the average over the jet.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	L213-L216
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	714
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/714/2/L213
Publication status	Published - 2010

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10.1088/2041-8205/714/2/L213

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@article{d7891c6317b94878938e4890df5e0f77,

title = "A flare in the jet of Pictor A",

abstract = "A Chandra X-ray imaging observation of the jet in Pictor A showed a feature that appears to be a flare that faded between 2000 and 2002. The feature was not detected in a follow-up observation in 2009. The jet itself is over 150 kpc long and about 1 kpc wide, so finding year-long variability is surprising. Assuming a synchrotron origin of the observed high-energy photons and a minimum energy condition for the outflow, the synchrotron loss time of the X-ray emitting electrons is of order 1200 years, which is much longer than the observed variability timescale. This leads to the possibility that the variable X-ray emission arises from a very small sub-volume of the jet, characterized by a magnetic field that is substantially larger than the average over the jet.",

author = "H.L. Marshall and M.J. Hardcastle and M. Birkinshaw and J.H. Croston and D. Evans and H. Landt and E. Lenc and F. Massaro and E. Perlman and D.A. Schwartz and A. Siemiginowska and L. Stawarz and C.M. Urry and D.M. Worrall",

note = "Original article can be found at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/apjl Copyright American Astronomical Society. [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA]",

year = "2010",

doi = "10.1088/2041-8205/714/2/L213",

language = "English",

volume = "714",

pages = "L213--L216",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",

issn = "2041-8213",

publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",

number = "2",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - A flare in the jet of Pictor A

AU - Marshall, H.L.

AU - Hardcastle, M.J.

AU - Birkinshaw, M.

AU - Croston, J.H.

AU - Evans, D.

AU - Landt, H.

AU - Lenc, E.

AU - Massaro, F.

AU - Perlman, E.

AU - Schwartz, D.A.

AU - Siemiginowska, A.

AU - Stawarz, L.

AU - Urry, C.M.

AU - Worrall, D.M.

N1 - Original article can be found at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/apjl Copyright American Astronomical Society. [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA]

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - A Chandra X-ray imaging observation of the jet in Pictor A showed a feature that appears to be a flare that faded between 2000 and 2002. The feature was not detected in a follow-up observation in 2009. The jet itself is over 150 kpc long and about 1 kpc wide, so finding year-long variability is surprising. Assuming a synchrotron origin of the observed high-energy photons and a minimum energy condition for the outflow, the synchrotron loss time of the X-ray emitting electrons is of order 1200 years, which is much longer than the observed variability timescale. This leads to the possibility that the variable X-ray emission arises from a very small sub-volume of the jet, characterized by a magnetic field that is substantially larger than the average over the jet.

AB - A Chandra X-ray imaging observation of the jet in Pictor A showed a feature that appears to be a flare that faded between 2000 and 2002. The feature was not detected in a follow-up observation in 2009. The jet itself is over 150 kpc long and about 1 kpc wide, so finding year-long variability is surprising. Assuming a synchrotron origin of the observed high-energy photons and a minimum energy condition for the outflow, the synchrotron loss time of the X-ray emitting electrons is of order 1200 years, which is much longer than the observed variability timescale. This leads to the possibility that the variable X-ray emission arises from a very small sub-volume of the jet, characterized by a magnetic field that is substantially larger than the average over the jet.

U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/714/2/L213

DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/714/2/L213

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-8213

VL - 714

SP - L213-L216

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

IS - 2

ER -

A flare in the jet of Pictor A

Abstract

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