Bibcode
DOI
Scarpa, Riccardo; Urry, C. Megan; Falomo, Renato; Treves, Aldo
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 526, Issue 2, pp. 643-648.
Advertised on:
12
1999
Journal
Citations
44
Refereed citations
39
Description
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.