The deepest X-ray view of a kiloparsec scale jet at z=6.1
Abstract
The mechanism responsible for the high-energy emission observed in kiloparsec-scale jets across cosmic time remains poorly understood. The relativistic jet associated with the z=6.1 AGN PSO J030947.49+271757.31 is the highest-redshift large-scale jet currently resolved in X-rays, providing a unique opportunity to study these structures. We present new Chandra observations, combined with archival data, for a total exposure of 360 ks. The increased exposure allowed us to resolve the extended X-ray emission into two distinct, slightly resolved components and perform spatially resolved spectral analyses. The extended emission has a photon index of Gamma = 2.25 (+0.45, -0.44), steeper than that of the core (Gamma = 1.86 +/- 0.09), and an extended-to-core luminosity ratio of 18%. Simulations using the Chandra image as input show that an AXIS-like mission could increase the detected photon statistics by a factor of approximately 17. We resolve the kiloparsec-scale jet into two main components and constrain its spectral properties. This is the most distant and one of the most X-ray-luminous large-scale jets currently known. Future X-ray missions with arcsecond-scale angular resolution could enable more detailed studies of such systems and reveal a population of fainter high-redshift jets beyond Chandra's reach.
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BibTeX
@misc{meanti2026deepest,
title = {{The deepest X-ray view of a kiloparsec scale jet at z=6.1}},
author = {Fabio A. Meanti and Luca Ighina and Alberto Moretti and Kyra Bettwy and Alessandro Caccianiga and Thomas Connor and Fabrizio Tavecchio and Silvia Belladitta and Emmanuel K. Bempong-Manful and Cristiana Spingola},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.30259},
eprint = {2610.30259},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30259},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The deepest X-ray view of a kiloparsec scale jet at z=6.1
AU - Fabio A. Meanti
AU - Luca Ighina
AU - Alberto Moretti
AU - Kyra Bettwy
AU - Alessandro Caccianiga
AU - Thomas Connor
AU - Fabrizio Tavecchio
AU - Silvia Belladitta
AU - Emmanuel K. Bempong-Manful
AU - Cristiana Spingola
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.30259
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30259
AB - The mechanism responsible for the high-energy emission observed in kiloparsec-scale jets across cosmic time remains poorly understood. The relativistic jet associated with the z=6.1 AGN PSO J030947.49+271757.31 is the highest-redshift large-scale jet currently resolved in X-rays, providing a unique opportunity to study these structures. We present new Chandra observations, combined with archival data, for a total exposure of 360 ks. The increased exposure allowed us to resolve the extended X-ray emission into two distinct, slightly resolved components and perform spatially resolved spectral analyses. The extended emission has a photon index of Gamma = 2.25 (+0.45, -0.44), steeper than that of the core (Gamma = 1.86 +/- 0.09), and an extended-to-core luminosity ratio of 18%. Simulations using the Chandra image as input show that an AXIS-like mission could increase the detected photon statistics by a factor of approximately 17. We resolve the kiloparsec-scale jet into two main components and constrain its spectral properties. This is the most distant and one of the most X-ray-luminous large-scale jets currently known. Future X-ray missions with arcsecond-scale angular resolution could enable more detailed studies of such systems and reveal a population of fainter high-redshift jets beyond Chandra's reach.
ER -