Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2001-05-09
Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 324 (2001) L33
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, pink pages
Scientific paper
10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04642.x
Emission from the nucleus of the closest radio galaxy, Centaurus A, is observed from the radio to the gamma ray band. We build, for the first time, its overall Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) that appears to be intriguingly similar to those of blazars, showing two broad peaks located in the far-infrared band and at ~0.1 MeV respectively. The whole nuclear emission of Centaurus A is successfully reproduced with a synchrotron self-Compton model. The estimated physical parameters of the emitting source are similar to those of BL Lacs, except for a much smaller beaming factor, as qualitatively expected when a relativistic jet is orientated at a large angle to the line of sight. These results represent strong evidence that Centaurus A is indeed a misoriented BL Lac and provide strong support in favour of the unification scheme for low luminosity radio-loud AGNs. Modeling of the SED of Centaurus A also provides further and independent indications of the presence of velocity structures in sub-pc scale jets.
Capetti Alessandro
Celotti Annalisa
Chiaberge Marco
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