Extended Data Fig. 2: Relevant timescales in the jet.
From: Resolving acceleration to very high energies along the jet of Centaurus A
Characteristic electron cooling timescales (ordinate) in the kiloparsec-scale jet of Centaurus A as a function of electron energy (abscissa; the corresponding electron Lorentz factor is also shown along the top of the graph). Achievable particle energies are essentially limited by synchrotron losses. The solid green line represents the timescale for electron acceleration, and the solid purple line the dynamical or advection timescale. The dashed and dotted lines represent the timescales on which electrons lose energy, that is, via synchrotron radiation (light blue line) or inverse Compton (IC) scattering off ambient photons (dust, yellow line; starlight, orange line; CMB, dark blue line).
