A Multiwavelength Study of the Extreme AGN J2310-437

Abstract

We present new X-ray, radio, and optical data for the unusual galaxy/cluster system J2310-437. Our results confirm the presence of an active nucleus, and suggest an interpretation as an anomalous BL Lac object of bulk relativistic Doppler factor < 2, with an optically deficient radio-to-X-ray spectrum. The radio, optical, and soft X-ray flux densities could lie along a single power-law function, lacking the curvature typical of BL Lac objects. Compared with other known sources that may have comparable multifrequency spectra, J2310-437 is the most extreme. Its low isotropic optical/UV radiation is consistent with the intensity of external photons governing the electron spectral break through Compton cooling; in this source the external photon density would be too low to produce a spectral break below the X-ray.