Chandra Observations of 3C Radio Sources with z<0.3: Nuclei, Diffuse Emission, Jets and Hotspots

TL;DR

This study uses Chandra observations to analyze X-ray emissions from 3C radio sources with redshift less than 0.3, focusing on nuclei, diffuse emission, jets, and hotspots, revealing intrinsic absorption in a significant fraction.

Contribution

First systematic X-ray analysis of a large sample of 3C radio sources at low redshift, providing detailed spectral and flux measurements.

Findings

One third of sources show significant intrinsic absorption.

Measured X-ray fluxes and spectral indices for nuclei and features.

Identified correlations between X-ray features and radio structures.

Abstract

We report on our Chandra Cycle 9 program to observe half of the 60 (unobserved by Chandra) 3C radio sources at z<0.3 for 8 ksec each. Here we give the basic data: the X-ray intensity of the nuclei and any features associated with radio structures such as hot spots and knots in jets. We have measured fluxes in soft, medium and hard bands and are thus able to isolate sources with significant intrinsic column density. For the stronger nuclei, we have applied the standard spectral analysis which provides the best fit values of X-ray spectral index and column density. We find evidence for intrinsic absorption exceeding a column density of 10^{22} cm^{-2} for one third of our sources.