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[4.16] Chandra and XMM-Newton Observations of the nuclei of FR I radio galaxies in the 3CR and B2 catalogs

D. Donato (GMU, School of Computational Sciences), M. Gliozzi, R.M. Sambruna (GMU, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy)

Unification models successfully explain the multitude of radio-loud AGN at higher luminosities, but it is unclear whether they hold at low luminosities. In low-power radio galaxies (FRIs), the presence of the pc-scale molecular torus, obscuring the nucleus, and of the standard optically-thick, geometrically-thin accretion disk were cast into doubt by recent HST observations. The X-rays provide key information for both these issues. We exploit the complementary capabilities of XMM-Newton and Chandra to address the following questions: 1) Is there an obscuring torus in FRIs? 2) What is the origin of the nuclear X-ray emission (jet vs. accretion flow)? and 3) What is the nature of the accretion flow? Additionally, we will search for X-ray emission from the kpc-scale radio jets and study their emission mechanisms.

Financial support from Smithsonian grant GO4-5115A (DD) and NASA LTSA grant NAG5-10708 (MG, RMS) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.