NRAO/Socorro Colloquium Series: 16 February 2001

Dan Harris

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Cambridge, Massachusetts


CHANDRA Views of Extragalactic Radio Sources


We will discuss the hydrodynamics of the interaction of radio sources with the ambient hot gas. These include the effects of the bow shock of powerful jets, the cavities in the gas produced by the expansion of radio lobes, and the detection of shocked gas trapped between the bow shock and lobes. The primary goal (not yet fully realized) is to obtain an estimate of the internal (non-thermal) pressure of radio structures in order to provide constraints on the average magnetic field strength, the filling factor, and the contribution to the particle pressure from relativistic protons and low energy electrons.

We will review the emission processes responsible for X-rays from radio jets and describe the problems associated with each. Thermal bremsstrahlung has been ruled out in all cases examined in detail because the predicted Faraday rotation and depolarization are not observed. Synchrotron emission is a viable contender for a number of knots in jets and synchrotron self-Compton emission is the preferred process for a limited number of high brightness terminal hotspots in a few FRII radio galaxies. Inverse Compton emission from scattering of the CMBG photons is feasible only if significant bulk relativistic velocities exist far from the nucleus.

We will show available CHANDRA images of other radio galaxies and quasars.






Friday, 16 February 2001
11:00am

Array Operations Center Auditorium

Local Host: Chris Carilli


Other NRAO/Socorro colloquia


cchandle@nrao.edu