THE SPECTACULAR RADIO-NEAR-IR-X-RAY JET OF 3C 111: THE X-RAY EMISSION MECHANISM AND JET KINEMATICS
- Department of Physics and Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Boulevard, Melbourne, FL 32901 (United States)
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland—Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, 525 Northwestern Avenue, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421 (United States)
- Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
- Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
- NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Astrophysics Science Division, Code 663, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
Relativistic jets are the most energetic manifestation of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) phenomenon. AGN jets are observed from the radio through gamma-rays and carry copious amounts of matter and energy from the sub-parsec central regions out to the kiloparsec and often megaparsec scale galaxy and cluster environs. While most spatially resolved jets are seen in the radio, an increasing number have been discovered to emit in the optical/near-IR and/or X-ray bands. Here we discuss a spectacular example of this class, the 3C 111 jet, housed in one of the nearest, double-lobed FR II radio galaxies known. We discuss new, deep Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) observations that reveal both near-IR and X-ray emission from several components of the 3C 111 jet, as well as both the northern and southern hotspots. Important differences are seen between the morphologies in the radio, X-ray, and near-IR bands. The long (over 100 kpc on each side), straight nature of this jet makes it an excellent prototype for future, deep observations, as it is one of the longest such features seen in the radio, near-IR/optical, and X-ray bands. Several independent lines of evidence, including the X-ray and broadband spectral shape as well as the implied velocity of the approaching hotspot, lead us to strongly disfavor the EC/CMB model and instead favor a two-component synchrotron model to explain the observed X-ray emission for several jet components. Future observations with NuSTAR , HST , and Chandra will allow us to further constrain the emission mechanisms.
- OSTI ID:
- 22679630
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 826, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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