On the origin of the X-ray emission from a narrow-line radio quasar at z > 1

We present new XMM-Newton X-ray observations of the z = 1.246 narrow-line radio quasar RX J1011.2+5545 serendipitously discovered by ROSAT. The flat X-ray spectrum previously measured by ROSAT andASCA is shown to be the result of a steep r ∼ 1.8 power-law spectrum seen through a moderate intrinsic absorbing column (N H ∼ 4 x 10 2 1 cm - 2 ). The position of the X-ray source is entirely coincident with the nucleus of the radio source that we have resolved in new sensitive VLA observations at 3.6 and 6 cm, implying that scattering in the radio lobes is not responsible for the bulk of X-ray emission. In the EPIC pn image, a faint patch of X-ray emission is apparent 14 arcsec to the north-east of the main X-ray source. The former is positionally coincident with an apparently extended optical object with R ∼ 21.9, but there is no associated radio emission, thus ruling out the possibility that this represents a hotspot in a jet emanating from the primary X-ray source. No reflection features are detected in the X-ray spectrum of the narrow-line radio quasar, although an Fe line with an equivalent width of up to 600 eV cannot be ruled out.