Monitoring the long-term variability of the X-ray jet in Centaurus A

We propose 2 5 ks snapshots of Centaurus A to monitor any flaring activity of the inner jet. The goal of this proposal is to monitor any dramatic changes in the flux of the jet, similar to those seen in HST-1 of M87. Cen A is 5 times closer than M87, and Chandra's spatial resolution is smaller than the synchrotron loss scale, the only jet for which this is the case. Detection of a significant flare would allow us to spatially resolve the temporal evolution of the shock and subsequent decay. We are also monitoring the ULX population of Cen A to measure the duty cycle and number of these sources. We have detected both ULXs at luminosities of typical LMXBs. Detection of other ordinary LMXBs transitioning to the ULX state will give important clues as to the nature of these sources.