New Chandra Observations of the Jet in 3C 273. I. Softer X‐Ray than Radio Spectra and the X‐Ray Emission Mechanism

  • Jester S
  • Harris D
  • Marshall H
  • et al.
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Abstract

The jet in 3C273 is a high-power quasar jet with radio, optical and X-ray emission whose size and brightness allow a detailed study of the emission processes acting in it. We present deep Chandra observations of this jet and analyse the spectral properties of the jet emission from radio through X-rays. We find that the X-ray spectra are significantly softer than the radio spectra in all regions of the bright part of the jet except for the first bright "knot A", ruling out a model in which the X-ray emission from the entire jet arises from beamed inverse-Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons in a single-zone jet flow. Within two-zone jet models, we find that a synchrotron origin for the jet's X-rays requires fewer additional assumptions than an inverse-Compton model, especially if velocity shear leads to efficient particle acceleration in jet flows.

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Jester, S., Harris, D. E., Marshall, H. L., & Meisenheimer, K. (2006). New Chandra Observations of the Jet in 3C 273. I. Softer X‐Ray than Radio Spectra and the X‐Ray Emission Mechanism. The Astrophysical Journal, 648(2), 900–909. https://doi.org/10.1086/505962

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