With the successful launch of the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, it is widely expected that the prompt optical flashes like GRB990123 would be easily detected. However, the observations show that for a number of GRBs no early optical flash has been detected, which indicates that the reverse shock emission must be suppressed. Here we explore the possibility that the optical flash may arise from...

A Chandra observation of the radio-loud quasar 3C9 at redshift z = 2.012 has revealed extended X-ray emission coincident with the radio jet. Of particular interest is the appearance of both jet and counterjet, which argues against the X-ray emission being highly beamed. We present the properties of the jets and discuss possible scenarios for the X-ray emission, contrasting them with the single ...

We report BeppoSAX observations of spatially resolved hard X-ray emission from IC 443, a supernova remnant interacting with a molecular cloud. The emission is shown to come from two localized features spatially correlated with bright molecular emission regions. Both hard X-ray features have soft X-ray counterparts, in one case shifted by ∼ 2′ arcmin toward the remnant interior. The spectra of X...

The properties of X-ray emission from accreting black holes are reviewed. The contemporary observational picture and current status of theoretical understanding of accretion and formation of X-ray radiation in the vicinity of the compact object are equally in the focus of this chapter. The emphasis is made primarily on common properties and trends rather than on peculiarities of individual obje...

We report on X-ray emission from the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC4388 observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. A hard X-ray peak is found at the position of the active nucleus suggested by optical and radio observations. Extended soft X-ray emission correlates well with the ionization cone found in optical line emission. A large soft X-ray extension is found up to 16 kpc (and possibly 30 kpc) to th...

The Perseus galaxy cluster was observed by the MAGIC Cherenkov telescope for a total effective time of 24.4 hours during November and December 2008. No significant γ-ray excess was detected. The resulting upper limits on the γ-ray emission above 100 GeV are 4.63 and 6.55 × 10−12cm−2 s−1 for spectral indices of −1.5 and −2.2, respectively. The obtained limits constrain the emission produced by c...

By favoring the L-peak emission over the bremsstrahlung part, direct quasi-monochromatic soft x-ray emission has been obtained with a field emission (FE) x-ray source. The electron impact x-ray setup uses an arrayed cathode of carbon nanopearl FE tips as a stable cold electron source within a vacuum of 10(-6)-10(-7) Torr. The high brightness of the FE e-beam coupled with the array structure of ...

We report the discovery of X-ray emission from NGC 7027, a prototypical object for the study of the formation and evolution of planetary nebulae (PNs). Observations with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory show that the X-ray emission from NGC 7027 is extended and is bipolar in morphology. The ACIS spectrum displays strong emission from highly ioniz...

Using the first three and a half years of observations from the Energetic Gamma Ray Telescope (EGRET) on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO), phase-resolved analyses are performed on the emission from the three brightest highenergy γ-ray pulsars, Crab, Geminga, and Vela. For each pulsar, it is found that there is detectable high-energy γ-ray emission above the galactic diffuse backgr...

We report the discovery of spatially-extended, non-thermal or hot, quasi-thermal emission components in Chandra X-ray spectra for five of a sample of seven massive, merging galaxy clusters with powerful radio halos: Abell 665, 2163, 2255, 2319, and 1E 065756. The emission components can be fitted by power-law models with mean photon indices in the range 1.4 < Γ < 2.0, or by bremsstrahlung emiss...