A&A 530, A123 (2011) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201016305 & c ESO 2011 Astrophysics The X-ray puzzle of the L1551 IRS 5 jet P. C. Schneider1, H. M. Günther2, and J. H. M. M. Schmitt1 1 Hamburger Sternwarte, Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg, Germany e-mail: [cschneider;jschmitt]@hs.uni-hamburg.de 2 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA, USA e-mail:
[email protected] Received 13 December 2010 / Accepted 18 April 2011 ABSTRACT Protostars are actively accreting matter and they drive spectacular, dynamic outflows, which evolve on timescales of years. X-ray emission from these jets has been detected only in a few cases and little is known about its time evolution. We present a new Chandra observation of L1551 IRS 5’s jet in the context of all available X-ray data of this object. Specifically, we perform a spatially resolved spectral analysis of the X-ray emission and find that (a) the total X-ray luminosity is constant over almost one decade, (b) the majority of the X-rays appear to be always located close to the driving source, (c) there is a clear trend in the photon energy as a function of the distance to the driving source indicating that the plasma is cooler at larger distances and (d) the X-ray emission is located in a small volume which is unresolved perpendicular to the jet axis by Chandra. A comparison of our X-ray data of the L1551 IRS 5 jet both with models as well as X-ray observations of other protostellar jets shows that a base/standing shock is a likely and plausible explanation for the apparent constancy of the observed X-ray emission.