Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Apr 1991
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991natur.350..589r&link_type=abstract
Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 350, April 18, 1991, p. 589-592. Research supported by NASA and NASF.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
52
Luminosity, Quasars, X Ray Astronomy, X Ray Sources, Flares, Relativistic Effects, Spaceborne Astronomy, X Ray Spectra
Scientific paper
A recent observation from the Ginga satellite of the quasar PKS0558 - 504 is reported during which the X-ray flux increased by 67 percent in the space of only three minutes. There was no significant change in the spectrum. Comprehensive analysis of the data strongly indicates that this was a genuine X-ray flare originating in the quasar. The implied rate of change in luminosity in the 2-10 keV range, assuming a Hubble constant of 70 km/s/Mpc, and a cosmological deceleration parameter q0 = 0.5, is 3.2 x 10 to the 42nd erg/sq s, the highest value measured for a quasar. When photon scattering is considered, this is about 16 times greater than could be produced, with a three-minute rise time, in an isotropically emitting plasma. It is argued that the apparent luminosity must be enhanced by relativistic beaming. This is the first indication of beaming in an 'ordinary' unpolarized quasar.
Bradt Hale V.
Grossan Bruce
Hayashida Kiyoshi
Ohashi Takuma
Remillard Ron A.
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