Inverse compton and thomson scattering of the quasar 3С 273 emission by electrons of the nearest knot of its kiloparsec jet

Abstract

The X-ray radiation of the nearest to the core 3C 273 kiloparsec jet knot A1 is shown to be produced by the inverse Compton scattering of the quasar emission rather than by the Thomson scattering. For the last process, a large quantity of thermal plasma is required at the knot that is not confirmed by polarization observations. It is concluded that the low-energy cutt-off occurs at the power-law spectrum of ultrarelativistic electrons in the knot A1.