The core-dominated radio-loud quasar PKS 0637-752 (z = 0.654) was the first celestial object observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, offering the early surprise of the detection of a remarkable ...X-ray jet. Several observations with a variety of detector configurations contribute to a total exposure time with the Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS; Garmire et al. 2000, in preparation) of about 100ks. A spatial analysis of all the available X-ray data, making use of Chandra's spatial resolving power of about 0.4 arcsec, reveals a jet that extends about 10 arcsec to the west of the nucleus. At least four X-ray knots are resolved along the jet, which contains about 5% of the overall X-ray luminosity of the source. Previous observations of PKS 0637-752 in the radio band (Tingay et al. 1998) had identified a kpc-scale radio jet extending to the West of the quasar. The X-ray and radio jets are similar in shape, intensity distribution, and angular structure out to about 9 arcsec, after which the X-ray brightness decreases more rapidly and the radio jet turns abruptly to the north. The X-ray luminosity of the total source is log Lx ~ 45.8 erg/s (2 - 10keV), and appears not to have changed since it was observed with ASCA in November 1996. We present the results of fitting a variety of emission models to the observed spectral distribution, comment on the non-existence of emission lines recently reported in the ASCA observations of PKS 0637-752, and briefly discuss plausible X-ray emission mechanisms.
Since the discovery that the flux densities of very compact astrophysical sources are modulated by scattering in the inhomogeneous, ionized interstellar medium (ISM) of our own Galaxy through a ...phenomenon known as Interstellar Scintillation (ISS), these scattering effects have been used with great success as a tool to probe the physics of the ISM and the sources themselves. With the recent discovery of a redshift dependence in the ISS of quasars in a 4.9 GHz survey of about 500 sources, large statistical studies of ISS have been imbued with a cosmological significance. Possible causes of this effect include cosmological expansion, scatter broadening by the ionized intergalactic medium and evolution of quasar morphology with redshift. Since each of these hypotheses have different wavelength dependences, we have carried out dual-frequency observations of a subsample of 140 quasars to determine the origin of this redshift dependence of ISS. We are therefore using interstellar scattering, for the first time, as a cosmological probe at micro-arcsecond scales - achieving an angular resolution two orders of magnitude finer than that of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). We discover a weaker redshift dependence at 8.4 GHz as compared to 4.9 GHz, indicating a strong wavelength scaling in the effect. We are investigating possible source selection effects and developing the theory to model the observations to enable an accurate interpretation of the data.
Astron.J.126:1699,2003 We are undertaking a large-scale, Micro-Arcsecond Scintillation-Induced
Variability (MASIV) survey of the northern sky, Dec > 0 deg, at 4.9 GHz with
the VLA. Our objective is ...to construct a sample of 100 to 150 scintillating
extragalactic sources with which to examine both the microarcsecond structure
and the parent populations of these sources, and to probe the turbulent
interstellar medium responsible for the scintillation. We report on our first
epoch of observations which revealed variability on timescales ranging from
hours to days in 85 of 710 compact flat-spectrum sources. The number of highly
variable sources, those with RMS flux density variations greater than 4% of the
mean, increases with decreasing source flux density but rapid, large amplitude
variables such as J1819+3845 are very rare. When compared with a model for the
scintillation due to irregularities in a 500 pc thick electron layer, our
preliminary results indicate maximum brightness temperatures ~10E+12 K, similar
to those obtained from VLBI surveys even though interstellar scintillation is
not subject to the same angular resolution limit.
We present results based on the first 20 Chandra images obtained in a survey
of jets in radio selected flat-spectrum quasars (FSRQs), along with new
sub-arcsecond radio maps and optical images. We ...discover jet X-ray flux in 12
sources despite short exposures, establishing that FSRQ jets are often X-ray
bright. The X-ray morphology typically matches the radio and fades rapidly
after the first sharp radio bend, but there are notable exceptions. Optical
non-detections rule out simple synchrotron models for jet X-ray emission,
implying these systems are dominated by inverse Compton (IC) scattering. Models
of IC scattering of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) constrain the bulk
flow and magnetic field, suggesting the jets are oriented close to our line of
sight, with deprojected lengths often \gg 100 kpc.
We are undertaking a large-scale, Micro-Arcsecond Scintillation-Induced Variability (MASIV) survey of the northern sky, Dec > 0 deg, at 4.9 GHz with the VLA. Our objective is to construct a sample of ...100 to 150 scintillating extragalactic sources with which to examine both the microarcsecond structure and the parent populations of these sources, and to probe the turbulent interstellar medium responsible for the scintillation. We report on our first epoch of observations which revealed variability on timescales ranging from hours to days in 85 of 710 compact flat-spectrum sources. The number of highly variable sources, those with RMS flux density variations greater than 4% of the mean, increases with decreasing source flux density but rapid, large amplitude variables such as J1819+3845 are very rare. When compared with a model for the scintillation due to irregularities in a 500 pc thick electron layer, our preliminary results indicate maximum brightness temperatures ~10E+12 K, similar to those obtained from VLBI surveys even though interstellar scintillation is not subject to the same angular resolution limit.
We present results based on the first 20 Chandra images obtained in a survey of jets in radio selected flat-spectrum quasars (FSRQs), along with new sub-arcsecond radio maps and optical images. We ...discover jet X-ray flux in 12 sources despite short exposures, establishing that FSRQ jets are often X-ray bright. The X-ray morphology typically matches the radio and fades rapidly after the first sharp radio bend, but there are notable exceptions. Optical non-detections rule out simple synchrotron models for jet X-ray emission, implying these systems are dominated by inverse Compton (IC) scattering. Models of IC scattering of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) constrain the bulk flow and magnetic field, suggesting the jets are oriented close to our line of sight, with deprojected lengths often \gg 100 kpc.
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