{
  "id": "1908.06048",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2019-08-16T16:28:42.000Z",
  "updated": "2019-08-16T16:28:42.000Z",
  "title": "Statistical analysis on X-ray flares from the nucleus and HST-1 knot in the M87 jet",
  "authors": [
    "Shenbang Yang",
    "Dahai Yan",
    "Benzhong Dai",
    "Pengfei Zhang",
    "Qianqian Zhu",
    "Jiancheng Wang",
    "Li Zhang"
  ],
  "comment": "10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.HE"
  ],
  "abstract": "The statistical properties of X-ray flares from two separate locations (nucleus and HST-1) in the M87 jet are investigated to reveal the physical origin of the flares. We analyse the archival \\textit{Chandra} data for M87, and identify 14 flares in the nucleus and 9 flares in HST-1. The peak intensity ($I_{\\rm{P}}$) and the flaring duration time ($T_{\\rm{fl}}$) for each flare are obtained. It is found that the distributions of both $I_{\\rm{P}}$ and $T_{\\rm{fl}}$ for the nucleus obey a power-law form with a similar index. A similar result is also obtained for HST-1, and no significant inconsistency between the nucleus and HST-1 is found for the indices. Similar to solar X-ray flares, the power-law distributions of the flare event parameters can be well explained by a self-organized criticality (SOC) system, which are triggered by magnetic reconnection. Our results suggest that the flares from nucleus and HST-1 are possibly triggered by magnetic reconnection process. The consistent indices for the distributions of $I_{\\rm{P}}$ and $T_{\\rm{fl}}$ in the CORE and HST-1 indicate that the dimensions of the energy dissipation of the magnetic reconnection is identical in the two regions. A strong correlation between the flares in the two regions also suggests a similar physical origin for the flares.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2019-08-16T16:28:42.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "m87 jet",
      "statistical analysis",
      "magnetic reconnection process",
      "flare event parameters",
      "distributions"
    ],
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 10,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}