1999/06/28 by R. Scarpa, C. M. Urry, R. Falomo +1 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Galaxy #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Hubble space telescope #Jet (fluid) #Optics #Photometry (optics) #Physics #Spectral index #Spectral line #Synchrotron #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/308041
Accepted for publications on the Astrphysical Journal. Contains 14 pages and 5 figures
arxiv created 1999/06/28 · openalex publication_date 1999/12/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) observations have led to the discovery of the optical counterpart of the radio jet of PKS 2201+044 and to a detailed analysis of the optical jets of PKS 0521-365 and 3C 371. At HST spatial resolution these jets are well resolved, displaying knotty morphologies. When compared with radio maps of appropriate resolution, a clear one-to-one correspondence between optical and radio structures is found, showing that all detected optical structures are indeed related to the radio synchrotron emission. Photometry of the brightest knots shows that the radio-to-optical spectral index and the derived intensity of the equipartition magnetic field are approximately constant along the jet. Thus, present observations suggest that the electron energy distribution does not change significantly all along the jet.