0 Assigned ID: 6854 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Thu Apr 10 23:40:23 GMT 2025) ----- 0 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Thu Aug 14 04:00:18 GMT 2025) ----- ----- Attempting Submission 2 (Tue Aug 19 19:19:58 GMT 2025) ----- Uncovering the optical emission in the brightest X-ray Jet Despite the fact that jets from actively accreting super-massive black holes were first understood to exist over 40 years ago, we are still in ignorance about many primary aspects of these systems -- including how jets are launched from the black hole itself, to their particle makeup and even the nature of the emission mechanism at high energies. The exquisite spatial resolution of Chandra lead to the discovery that these jets continue to accelerate particles to multi-TeV energies very far from the central black hole, as evidenced by unexpectedly strong X-ray emission on these scales, which remains poorly understood. While Chandra has discovered over 200 X-ray emitting kpc-scale jets, most lack corresponding HST observations, needed to characterize fully the SED and identify the radiation mechanism(s) operating in jets on larger scales. This proposal requests multi-band (IR, optical, UV) observations of the X-ray brightest jet so far discovered, RGB J1512+020A. Hosted by a powerful quasar, tentative ground-based detection of the brightest component in the jet suggests that the radio, optical, and X-rays each belong to a distinct emission component, a signature which has been reported previously in the very low-power jet in M84. These 'optical anomalies' have major implications for our understanding of both jet physics and the impact of jets on their environment. Until the unknown optical and X-ray emission mechanisms are clearly identified, it is impossible to properly measure or account for the impact of jets on their environment. This is a proposal for multi-band continuum imaging of the jet of quasar RGB J1512+020A, which hosts the brightest resolved X-ray emitting jet at low redshift. The goal of this program is to provide a very well-measured and spatially resolved SED of the jet as it extends out of the galaxy, as currently the (apparent) multiple spectral components in the radio, optical, and X-ray are not well-understood. We already have multi-band imaging at matching resolution with radio telescopes (e.g. VLA) and ALMA, and this program also included a joint Chandra request. The quasar core is expected to be very bright based on ground-based imaging, so roll constraints have been requested to ensure that PSF spikes do not over-run the fainter jet features which extend 20-30" from the central source. At the redshift of this source it is likely that some host galaxy emission will be visible even with the bright quasar, so the requested observing time reflects that needed to reach a relatively high S/N on the individual jet features. E. Meyer, E. Perlman, G. Migliori, and A. Siemiginowska are all experts on multi-wavelength imaging of jets, with extensive experience with using HST, the VLA, ALMA, and Chandra to observe extragalactic jets. E. Meyer and E. Perlman have extensive experience in polarization imaging with HST and E.M with precision astrometry for tracking proper motions. G. Migliori and A. Siemiginowska are especially widely regarded as experts pn observations of jets with Chandra. M. Georganopoulos is an expert in both numerical and analytical work on jet theory. 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