The Properties of the X-Ray-selected EMSS Sample of BL Lacertae Objects

Abstract

We present updated and complete radio, optical, and X-ray data for BL Lac objects in the Einstein Medium Sensitivity Survey (EMSS). The complete sample first presented in Morris et al. is updated to include 26 BL Lac objects in total, and we define a new, virtually complete sample consisting of 41 EMSS BL Lac objects (the sample). New high signal-to-noise ratio, arcsecond-resolution VLA observations are also presented for 11 EMSS BL Lac objects, completing VLA observations of the M91 sample. The addition of four new objects, as well as updated X-ray flux and redshift information, has increased the Ve/Va value for the M91 sample to 0.399 ± 0.057 and Ve/Va = 0.427 ± 0.045 for the newly defined D40 sample. In conjunction with other studies of X-ray–selected BL Lac (XBL) samples, these results solidify negative evolution for XBLs, especially for more extreme high-energy–peaked BL Lac objects, for which we find Ve/Va = 0.271 ± 0.077. The observed Ve/Va, spectral, and radio properties of XBLs are completely consistent with being the beamed population of low-luminosity, FR-1 radio galaxies. However, our VLA observations do confirm that XBLs are too core dominated to be consistent with a beamed population of FR-1's seen at intermediate angles, as suggested by the unified model, if XBLs have moderate outflow velocities (γ ~ 5).