Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 1986
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1986sao..rept.....w&link_type=abstract
Final Report, 1 Apr. 1985 - 30 Sep. 1986 Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Extragalactic Radio Sources, Periodic Variations, Spaceborne Astronomy, Synchrotron Radiation, X Ray Astronomy, X Ray Spectra, Astronomical Models, Exosat Satellite
Scientific paper
The compact extragalactic radio source, 3C 371, was observed with the X-ray detectors of the EXOSAT satellite for 19.5 hours in 2 observing periods separated by 18 days. This resulted in the discovery of X-ray variability of the source on time scales between 8 hours and about 25 minutes and the confirmation of earlier reports of variability on longer time scales. The short time scale variability agrees remarkably well with earlier predictions based on fitting multifrequency data from the source to a relativistically beamed inhomogeneous synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) jet model. This SSC model is frequently applied to BL Lac objects and related sources, such as 3C 371. However, the number of free parameters in model fits tends to be large, and so independent support such as from this work is important. The X-ray spectral results for 3C 371 also may provide qualitative support for the SSC model in that the spectrum probably consists of two components, with the steeper one at low photon energies. In terms of the model, the low-energy spectrum would be dominated by synchrotron emission extending down to radio energies, whereas the higher energy X-rays would be dominated by Compton radiation.
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