UNI-MB - logo
UMNIK - logo
 
E-resources
Peer reviewed Open access
  • A Multiwavelength Study of ...
    Godfrey, L. E. H; Bicknell, G. V; Lovell, J. E. J; Jauncey, D. L; Gelbord, J; Schwartz, D. A; Marshall, H. L; Birkinshaw, M; Georganopoulos, M; Murphy, D. W; Perlman, E. S; Worrall, D. M

    The Astrophysical journal, 04/2009, Volume: 695, Issue: 1
    Journal Article

    Long Baseline Array imaging of the z = 0.663 broadline radio galaxy PKS 1421-490 reveals a 400 pc diameter high surface brightness hot spot at a projected distance of ~40 kpc from the active galactic nucleus. The isotropic X-ray luminosity of the hot spot, L 2-10 keV = 3 X 1044 ergs s-1, is comparable to the isotropic X-ray luminosity of the entire X-ray jet of PKS 0637-752, and the peak radio surface brightness is hundreds of times greater than that of the brightest hot spot in Cygnus A. We model the radio to X-ray spectral energy distribution using a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model with a near equipartition magnetic field strength of 3 mG. There is a strong brightness asymmetry between the approaching and receding hotspots and the hot spot spectrum remains flat (a 0.5) well beyond the predicted cooling break for a 3 mG magnetic field, indicating that the hotspot emission may be Doppler beamed. A high plasma velocity beyond the terminal jet shock could be the result of a dynamically important magnetic field in the jet. There is a change in the slope of the hotspot radio spectrum at GHz frequencies, which we model by incorporating a cutoff in the electron energy distribution at gmin 650, with higher values implied if the hotspot emission is Doppler beamed. We show that a sharp decrease in the electron number density below a Lorentz factor of 650 would arise from the dissipation of bulk kinetic energy in an electron/proton jet with a Lorentz factor Gjet 5.