Where centaurus a gets its X-ray knottiness

DM Worrall; M Birkinshaw; RP Kraft; GR Sivakoff; A Jordan; MJ Hardcastle; NJ Brassington; JH Croston; DA Evans; WR Forman; WE Harris; C Jones; AM Juett; SS Murray; PEJ Nulsen; Somak Raychaudhury; CL Sarazin; KA Woodley

doi:10.1086/528681

Where centaurus a gets its X-ray knottiness

DM Worrall, M Birkinshaw, RP Kraft, GR Sivakoff, A Jordan, MJ Hardcastle, NJ Brassington, JH Croston, DA Evans, WR Forman, WE Harris, C Jones, AM Juett, SS Murray, PEJ Nulsen, Somak Raychaudhury, CL Sarazin, KA Woodley

Physics and Astronomy

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30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report an X-ray spectral study of the transverse structure of the Centaurus A jet using new data from the Chandra Cen A Very Large Project. We find that the spectrum steepens with increasing distance from the jet axis, and that this steepening can be attributed to a change in the average spectrum of the knotty emission. Such a trend is unexpected if the knots are predominantly a surface feature residing in a shear layer between faster and slower flows. We suggest that the spectral steepening of the knot emission as a function of distance from the jet axis is due to knot migration, implying a component of transverse motion of knots within the flow.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	L135-L138
Journal	The Astrophysical Journal
Volume	673
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/528681
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2008

Keywords

galaxies : individual (Centaurus A, NGC 5128)
X-rays : galaxies
galaxies : active
galaxies : jets

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10.1086/528681

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Worrall, DM., Birkinshaw, M., Kraft, RP., Sivakoff, GR., Jordan, A., Hardcastle, MJ., Brassington, NJ., Croston, JH., Evans, DA., Forman, WR., Harris, WE., Jones, C., Juett, AM., Murray, SS., Nulsen, PEJ., Raychaudhury, S., Sarazin, CL., & Woodley, KA. (2008). Where centaurus a gets its X-ray knottiness. The Astrophysical Journal, 673(2), L135-L138. https://doi.org/10.1086/528681

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title = "Where centaurus a gets its X-ray knottiness",

abstract = "We report an X-ray spectral study of the transverse structure of the Centaurus A jet using new data from the Chandra Cen A Very Large Project. We find that the spectrum steepens with increasing distance from the jet axis, and that this steepening can be attributed to a change in the average spectrum of the knotty emission. Such a trend is unexpected if the knots are predominantly a surface feature residing in a shear layer between faster and slower flows. We suggest that the spectral steepening of the knot emission as a function of distance from the jet axis is due to knot migration, implying a component of transverse motion of knots within the flow.",

keywords = "galaxies : individual (Centaurus A, NGC 5128), X-rays : galaxies, galaxies : active, galaxies : jets",

author = "DM Worrall and M Birkinshaw and RP Kraft and GR Sivakoff and A Jordan and MJ Hardcastle and NJ Brassington and JH Croston and DA Evans and WR Forman and WE Harris and C Jones and AM Juett and SS Murray and PEJ Nulsen and Somak Raychaudhury and CL Sarazin and KA Woodley",

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Worrall, DM, Birkinshaw, M, Kraft, RP, Sivakoff, GR, Jordan, A, Hardcastle, MJ, Brassington, NJ, Croston, JH, Evans, DA, Forman, WR, Harris, WE, Jones, C, Juett, AM, Murray, SS, Nulsen, PEJ, Raychaudhury, S, Sarazin, CL & Woodley, KA 2008, 'Where centaurus a gets its X-ray knottiness', The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 673, no. 2, pp. L135-L138. https://doi.org/10.1086/528681

TY - JOUR

T1 - Where centaurus a gets its X-ray knottiness

AU - Worrall, DM

AU - Birkinshaw, M

AU - Kraft, RP

AU - Sivakoff, GR

AU - Jordan, A

AU - Hardcastle, MJ

AU - Brassington, NJ

AU - Croston, JH

AU - Evans, DA

AU - Forman, WR

AU - Harris, WE

AU - Jones, C

AU - Juett, AM

AU - Murray, SS

AU - Nulsen, PEJ

AU - Raychaudhury, Somak

AU - Sarazin, CL

AU - Woodley, KA

PY - 2008/1/1

Y1 - 2008/1/1

N2 - We report an X-ray spectral study of the transverse structure of the Centaurus A jet using new data from the Chandra Cen A Very Large Project. We find that the spectrum steepens with increasing distance from the jet axis, and that this steepening can be attributed to a change in the average spectrum of the knotty emission. Such a trend is unexpected if the knots are predominantly a surface feature residing in a shear layer between faster and slower flows. We suggest that the spectral steepening of the knot emission as a function of distance from the jet axis is due to knot migration, implying a component of transverse motion of knots within the flow.

AB - We report an X-ray spectral study of the transverse structure of the Centaurus A jet using new data from the Chandra Cen A Very Large Project. We find that the spectrum steepens with increasing distance from the jet axis, and that this steepening can be attributed to a change in the average spectrum of the knotty emission. Such a trend is unexpected if the knots are predominantly a surface feature residing in a shear layer between faster and slower flows. We suggest that the spectral steepening of the knot emission as a function of distance from the jet axis is due to knot migration, implying a component of transverse motion of knots within the flow.

KW - galaxies : individual (Centaurus A, NGC 5128)

KW - X-rays : galaxies

KW - galaxies : active

KW - galaxies : jets

U2 - 10.1086/528681

DO - 10.1086/528681

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 673

SP - L135-L138

JO - The Astrophysical Journal

JF - The Astrophysical Journal

IS - 2

ER -

Where centaurus a gets its X-ray knottiness

Abstract

Keywords

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