Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2001-09-27
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
21 pages which include 2 figures. To be published in the Astrophysical Journal (tentatively scheduled for the v565 n1 ApJ Janu
Scientific paper
10.1086/324544
The emission processes responsible for the observed X-rays from radio jets are commonly believed to be non-thermal, but in any particular case, it is unclear if synchrotron emission or one or more varieties of inverse Compton emission predominates. We present a formulation of inverse Compton emission from a relativistically moving jet (``IC/beaming'') which relies on radio emitting synchrotron sources for which the energy densities in particles and fields are comparable. We include the non-isotropic nature of inverse Compton scattering of the relativistic electrons on photons of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and provide beaming parameters for a number of jets. A list of X-ray emitting jets is given and the jets are classified on the basis of their morphology and spectral energy distribution to determine their likely emission process. We conclude that these jets have significant bulk relativistic velocities on kpc scales; that higher redshift sources require less beaming because the energy density of the CMB is significantly greater than locally; and that for some nearby sources, synchrotron X-ray emission predominates because the jet makes a large angle to the line of sight.
Harris Daniel E.
Krawczynski Henric
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