Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Variability Timescales In The M87 Jet: Signatures Of E^2 Losses, Discovery Of A Quasi Period In Hst-1, And The Site Of Tev Flaring, Daniel E. Harris, Chi C. Cheung, Łukasz Stawarz, J. A. Biretta, Eric S. Perlman

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We investigate the variability timescales in the jet of M87 with two goals. The first is to use the rise times and decay times in the radio, ultraviolet, and X-ray light curves of HST-1 to constrain the source size and the energy loss mechanisms affecting the relativistic electron distributions. HST-1 is the first jet knot clearly resolved from the nuclear emission by Chandra and is the site of the huge flare of 2005. We find clear evidence for a frequency-dependent decrease in the synchrotron flux being consistent with E 2 energy losses. Assuming that this behavior is predominantly caused by …