From galaxy-scale fueling to nuclear-scale feedback- The merger-state of radio galaxies 3C 293, 3C 305, and 4C 12.50

Powerful radio galaxies are often associated with gas-rich galaxy mergers. These mergers may provide the fuel to trigger starburst and active galactic nuclear (AGN) activity. In this Research Note, we study the host galaxies of three seemingly young or re-started radio sources that drive fast outflows of cool neutral hydrogen (H i) gas, namely 3C 293, 3C 305 and 4C 12.50 (PKS 1345+12). Our aim is to link the feedback processes in the central kpc-scale region with new information on the distribution of stars and gas at scales of the galaxy. For this, we use deep optical V-band imaging of the host galaxies, complemented with H i emission-line observations to study their gaseous environments. We find prominent optical tidal features in all three radio galaxies, which confirm previous claims that 3C 293, 3C 305, and 4C 12.50 have been involved in a recent galaxy merger or interaction. Our data show the complex morphology of the host galaxies and identify the companion galaxies that are likely involved in the merger or interaction. The radio sources appear to be (re-)triggered at a different stage of the merger; 4C 12.50 is a pre-coalescent and possibly multiple merger, 3C 293 is a post-coalescent merger that is undergoing a minor interaction with a close satellite galaxy, while 3C 305 appears to be shaped by an interaction with a gas-rich companion. For 3C 293 and 3C 305, we do not detect H i beyond the inner ~30−45 kpc region, which shows that the bulk of the cold gas is concentrated within the host galaxy, rather than along the widespread tidal features

Spectral-Line Observations Using a Phased Array Feed on the Parkes Telescope

Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2017 We present first results from pilot observations using a phased array feed (PAF) mounted on the Parkes 64-m radio telescope. The observations presented here cover a frequency range from 1 150 to 1 480 MHz and are used to show the ability of PAFs to suppress standing wave problems by a factor of ~10, which afflict normal feeds. We also compare our results with previous HIPASS observations and with previous H i images of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Drift scan observations of the GAMA G23 field resulted in direct H i detections at z = 0.0043 and z = 0.0055 of HIPASS galaxies J2242-30 and J2309-30. Our new measurements generally agree with archival data in spectral shape and flux density, with small differences being due to differing beam patterns. We also detect signal in the stacked H i data of 1 094 individually undetected galaxies in the GAMA G23 field in the redshift range 0.05 ? z ? 0.075. Finally, we use the low standing wave ripple and wide bandwidth of the PAF to set a 3s upper limit to any positronium recombination line emission from the Galactic Centre of < 0.09 K, corresponding to a recombination rate of < 3.0 × 10 45 s -1