放射光
Synchrotron radiation is not confined to radio wavelengths: if the radio source can accelerate particles to high enough energies, features that are detected in the radio wavelengths may also be seen in the infrared, optical, ultraviolet or even X-ray. In the latter case the responsible electrons must have energies in excess of 1 TeV in typical magnetic field strengths. Again, polarization and continuum spectrum are used to distinguish the synchrotron radiation from other emission processes. Jets and hotspots are the usual sources of high-frequency synchrotron emission. It is hard to distinguish observationally between the synchrotron and inverse-Compton radiation, making them a subject of ongoing research.