2026-09-19T13:15:02Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/926132022-01-13T07:54:07Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131024
Herman L. Marshall.
Gentry, Eric S
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
2015-01-05T19:36:18Z
2015-01-05T19:36:18Z
2014
2014
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/92613
898334012
Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2014.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 75-78).
New images from the Hubble Space Telescope of the FRII radio galaxy Pictor A reveal a number of jet knot candidates which coincide with previously detected radio and x-ray knots. Previous observations in x-ray and radio bands show the entire jet to be 1.90 long, with interesting variability, but an optical component was previously unknown. The discovered optical component is faint, and knot candidates must be teased out from a bright host galaxy. Using three broadband lters, we extract knot fluxes and upper-bounds on the ux for multiple knot candidates at wavelengths of 1600nm, 814nm and 475nm. We nd that the data suggest that localized particle re-accleration events followed by synchrotron emission could explain the observed knot candidates, but those electrons could not supply enough x-ray ux to match prior observations. Our data provide key evidence suggesting a second, higher energy electron population which was previously hypothesized, but could not be confirmed.
by Eric S. Gentry.
S.B.
78 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Physics.
Optical detection and analysis of Pictor A's jet
Thesis
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<Abstract>New images from the Hubble Space Telescope of the FRII radio galaxy Pictor A reveal a number of jet knot candidates which coincide with previously detected radio and x-ray knots. Previous observations in x-ray and radio bands show the entire jet to be 1.90 long, with interesting variability, but an optical component was previously unknown. The discovered optical component is faint, and knot candidates must be teased out from a bright host galaxy. Using three broadband lters, we extract knot fluxes and upper-bounds on the ux for multiple knot candidates at wavelengths of 1600nm, 814nm and 475nm. We nd that the data suggest that localized particle re-accleration events followed by synchrotron emission could explain the observed knot candidates, but those electrons could not supply enough x-ray ux to match prior observations. Our data provide key evidence suggesting a second, higher energy electron population which was previously hypothesized, but could not be confirmed.</Abstract>
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