A multiwavelength study of the high surface brightness hot spot in pks 1421-490

Abstract

Long Baseline Array imaging of the z = 0.663 broadline radio galaxy PKS 1421-490 reveals a 400 pc diameter high surface brightness hot spot at a projected distance of ̃40 kpc from the active galactic nucleus. The isotropic X-ray luminosity of the hot spot, L2-10keV = 3 × 1044 ergs s-1, is comparable to the isotropic X-ray luminosity of the entire X-ray jet of PKS 0637-752, and the peak radio surface brightness is hundreds of times greater than that of the brightest hot spot in Cygnus A. We model the radio to X-ray spectral energy distribution using a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model with a near equipartition magnetic field strength of 3 mG. There is a strong brightness asymmetry between the approaching and receding hotspots and the hot spot spectrum remains flat (α ̃ 0.5) well beyond the predicted cooling break for a 3 mG magnetic field, indicating that the hotspot emission may be Doppler beamed. A high plasma velocity beyond the terminal jet shock could be the result of a dynamically important magnetic field in the jet. There is a change in the slope of the hotspot radio spectrum at GHz frequencies, which we model by incorporating a cutoff in the electron energy distribution at γmin ̃ 650, with higher values implied if the hotspot emission is Doppler beamed. We show that a sharp decrease in the electron number density below a Lorentz factor of 650 would arise from the dissipation of bulk kinetic energy in an electron/proton jet with a Lorentz factor Γjet ≳ 5. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society.