Chandra reveals X-rays along the radio axis in the quasar 3C 9 at z=2.012

A Chandra observation of the radio-loud quasar 3C 9 at redshift z = 2.012 has revealed extended X-ray emission coincident with the radio structure. Of particular interest is the appearance of X-ray emission on both sides of the nucleus, which argues against the X-ray emission being highly beamed. We present the properties and discuss possible scenarios for the X-ray emission, which is likely to be due to either non-thermal inverse Compton emission from relativistic electrons with small bulk Lorentz factor acting most probably on the cosmic microwave background but could involve infrared synchrotron photons or thermal emission from shocked cold gas surrounding the quasar. The thermal possibility implies a high mass for the cold gas unless it is highly clumped.