A 1D fluid model of the Centaurus A jet

Sarka Wykes; Bradford T. Snios; Paul E.J. Nulsen; Ralph P. Kraft; Mark Birkinshaw; Martin J. Hardcastle; Diana M. Worrall; Iain McDonald; Marina Rejkuba; Thomas W. Jones; David J. Stark; William R. Forman; Eileen T. Meyer; Christine Jones

doi:10.1093/mnras/stz348

A 1D fluid model of the Centaurus A jet

Sarka Wykes, Bradford T. Snios, Paul E.J. Nulsen, Ralph P. Kraft, Mark Birkinshaw, Martin J. Hardcastle, Diana M. Worrall, Iain McDonald, Marina Rejkuba, Thomas W. Jones, David J. Stark, William R. Forman, Eileen T. Meyer, Christine Jones

Physics and Astronomy (Twin Cities)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

We implement a steady, one-dimensional flow model for the X-ray jet of Centaurus A in which entrainment of stellar mass loss is the primary cause of dissipation. Using over 260 ks of new and archival Chandra/ACIS data, we have constrained the temperature, density and pressure distributions of gas in the central regions of the host galaxy of Centaurus A, and so the pressure throughout the length of its jet. The model is constrained by the observed profiles of pressure and jet width and conserves matter and energy, enabling us to estimate jet velocities and hence all the other flow properties. Invoking realistic stellar populations within the jet, we find that the increase in its momentum flux exceeds the net pressure force on the jet unless only about one half of the total stellar mass loss is entrained. For self-consistent models, the bulk speed only falls modestly, from ∼0.67c to ∼0.52c over the range of 0.25-5.94 kpc from the nucleus. The sonic Mach number varies between ∼5.3 and 3.6 over this range.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	872-888
Number of pages	17
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	485
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz348
State	Published - May 1 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Author(s).

Keywords

X-rays: galaxies
galaxies: active
galaxies: individual: Centaurus A
galaxies: jets
stars: low mass

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title = "A 1D fluid model of the Centaurus A jet",

abstract = "We implement a steady, one-dimensional flow model for the X-ray jet of Centaurus A in which entrainment of stellar mass loss is the primary cause of dissipation. Using over 260 ks of new and archival Chandra/ACIS data, we have constrained the temperature, density and pressure distributions of gas in the central regions of the host galaxy of Centaurus A, and so the pressure throughout the length of its jet. The model is constrained by the observed profiles of pressure and jet width and conserves matter and energy, enabling us to estimate jet velocities and hence all the other flow properties. Invoking realistic stellar populations within the jet, we find that the increase in its momentum flux exceeds the net pressure force on the jet unless only about one half of the total stellar mass loss is entrained. For self-consistent models, the bulk speed only falls modestly, from ∼0.67c to ∼0.52c over the range of 0.25-5.94 kpc from the nucleus. The sonic Mach number varies between ∼5.3 and 3.6 over this range.",

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AU - Snios, Bradford T.

AU - Nulsen, Paul E.J.

AU - Kraft, Ralph P.

AU - Birkinshaw, Mark

AU - Hardcastle, Martin J.

AU - Worrall, Diana M.

AU - McDonald, Iain

AU - Rejkuba, Marina

AU - Jones, Thomas W.

AU - Stark, David J.

AU - Forman, William R.

AU - Meyer, Eileen T.

AU - Jones, Christine

PY - 2019/5/1

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AB - We implement a steady, one-dimensional flow model for the X-ray jet of Centaurus A in which entrainment of stellar mass loss is the primary cause of dissipation. Using over 260 ks of new and archival Chandra/ACIS data, we have constrained the temperature, density and pressure distributions of gas in the central regions of the host galaxy of Centaurus A, and so the pressure throughout the length of its jet. The model is constrained by the observed profiles of pressure and jet width and conserves matter and energy, enabling us to estimate jet velocities and hence all the other flow properties. Invoking realistic stellar populations within the jet, we find that the increase in its momentum flux exceeds the net pressure force on the jet unless only about one half of the total stellar mass loss is entrained. For self-consistent models, the bulk speed only falls modestly, from ∼0.67c to ∼0.52c over the range of 0.25-5.94 kpc from the nucleus. The sonic Mach number varies between ∼5.3 and 3.6 over this range.

KW - X-rays: galaxies

KW - galaxies: active

KW - galaxies: individual: Centaurus A

KW - galaxies: jets

KW - stars: low mass

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A 1D fluid model of the Centaurus A jet

Abstract

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Keywords

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