Extended and compact X-ray emission from the powerful radio galaxy 3C220.1

Abstract

We report on ROSAT HRI observations of the z=0.61 radio galaxy 3C220.1. The X-ray emission from this object consists of an extended component, which we attribute to luminous cluster emission, and a compact central source. The compact component is too bright to be modelled as a cooling flow under some plausible assumptions for the hot gas temperature and distribution; we suggest instead that it is directly related to the core of the radio source. The X-ray flux of the compact component is consistent with the prediction of Worrall et al (1994) that all powerful radio galaxies should have a central jet-related X-ray emission component that is proportional in strength to the radio core flux density. Other observations of distant 3CR radio sources are consistent with this model.