Optical Structure and Physics of the M87 Jet

Abstract

We summarize HST observations of the M87 jet, concentrating on polarimetry and spectral index maps, and compare its optical and radio structures. The evidence now supports a stratified model for the structure of the jet, whereby high-energy, optical synchrotron emitting particles occupy physically different regions of the jet, closer to the jet axis, with different magnetic field configurations. It is in these regions where the shocks that produce the knots in the inner jet appear to originate. Knot regions have optical spectra which are much flatter than average for the jet, with the flattest-spectrum regions coinciding with flux maxima of knots. These same regions are preceded by regions where perpendicular magnetic fields are seen. Thus not only do we see all the necessary ingredients for {\it in situ} particle acceleration in the knots, but there is now fairly direct evidence for it as well. By tracking the changes in radio-optical and optical spectral index in the knot regions, we can comment on acceleration and cooling timescales in each knot.