NuSTAR discovery of the hard X-ray emission and a wide-band X-ray spectrum from the Pictor A western hotspot

Abstract Utilizing Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR, a wide-band X-ray spectrum from 0.2 to 20 keV is reported from the western hotspot of Pictor A. In particular, the X-ray emission is significantly detected in the 3 to 20 keV band at 30σ by NuSTAR. This is the first detection of hard X-rays with energies above 10 keV from a jet termination hotspot of active galactic nuclei. The hard X-ray spectrum is well described with a power-law model with a photon index of Γ = 1.8 ± 0.2, and the flux is obtained to be (4.5 ± 0.4) × 10−13 erg s−1 cm−2 in the 3 to 20 keV band. The obtained spectrum is smoothly connected with those soft X-ray spectra observed by Chandra and XMM-Newton. The wide-band spectrum shows a single power-law spectrum with a photon index of Γ = 2.07 ± 0.03, excluding any cut-off/break features. Assuming the X-rays to be synchrotron radiation of the electrons, the energy index of the electrons is estimated as p = 2Γ − 1 = 3.14 ± 0.06 from the wide-band spectrum. Given that the X-ray synchrotron-emitting electrons quickly lose their initial energies via synchrotron radiation, the energy index of electrons at acceleration sites is estimated as pacc = p − 1 = 2.14 ± 0.06. This is consistent with the prediction of the diffusive shock acceleration. Since the spectrum has no cut-off feature up to 20 keV, the maximum electron energy is estimated to be no less than 40 TeV.