1,413 research outputs found
Black holes, cuspy atmospheres, and galaxy formation
In cuspy atmospheres, jets driven by supermassive black holes (BHs) offset
radiative cooling. The jets fire episodically, but often enough that the cuspy
atmosphere does not move very far towards a cooling catastrophe in the
intervals of jet inactivity. The ability of energy released on the sub-parsec
scale of the BH to balance cooling on scales of several tens of kiloparsecs
arises through a combination of the temperature sensitivity of the accretion
rate and the way in which the radius of jet disruption varies with ambient
density. Accretion of hot gas does not significantly increase BH masses, which
are determined by periods of rapid BH growth and star formation when cold gas
is briefly abundant at the galactic centre. Hot gas does not accumulate in
shallow potential wells. As the Universe ages, deeper wells form, and
eventually hot gas accumulates. This gas soon prevents the formation of further
stars, since jets powered by the BH prevent it from cooling, and it mops up
most cold infalling gas before many stars can form. Thus BHs set the upper
limit to the masses of galaxies. The formation of low-mass galaxies is
inhibited by a combination of photo-heating and supernova-driven galactic
winds. Working in tandem these mechanisms can probably explain the profound
difference between the galaxy luminosity function and the mass function of dark
halos expected in the cold dark matter cosmology.Comment: To appear in Phil Trans Roy So
AGN as cosmic thermostats
We present a simple analytical model and the results of numerical simulations supporting the idea of periodical heating of cluster gas by AGN outflows. We show why, under this assumption, we are extremely unlikely to observe clusters containing gas with a temperature below about 1 keV. We review the results from numerical hydro-simulations studying the mechanisms by which AGN outflows heat the cluster gas
Multiple density discontinuities in the merging galaxy cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301
CIZA J2242.8+5301, a merging galaxy cluster at z=0.19, hosts a double-relic
system and a faint radio halo. Radio observations at frequencies ranging from a
few MHz to several GHz have shown that the radio spectral index at the outer
edge of the N relic corresponds to a shock of Mach number 4.6+/-1.1, under the
assumptions of diffusive shock acceleration of thermal particles in the test
particle regime. Here, we present results from new Chandra observations of the
cluster. The Chandra surface brightness profile across the N relic only hints
to a surface brightness discontinuity (<2-sigma detection). Nevertheless, our
reanalysis of archival Suzaku data indicates a temperature discontinuity across
the relic that is consistent with a Mach number of 2.5+/-0.5, in agreement with
previously published results. This confirms that the Mach number at the shock
traced by the N relic is much weaker than predicted from the radio. Puzzlingly,
in the Chandra data we also identify additional inner small density
discontinuities both on and off the merger axis. Temperature measurements on
both sides of the discontinuities do not allow us to undoubtedly determine
their nature, although a shock front interpretation seems more likely. We
speculate that if the inner density discontinuities are indeed shock fronts,
then they are the consequence of violent relaxation of the dark matter cores of
the clusters involved in the merger.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Abell 1033: birth of a radio phoenix
Extended steep-spectrum radio emission in a galaxy cluster is usually
associated with a recent merger. However, given the complex scenario of galaxy
cluster mergers, many of the discovered sources hardly fit into the strict
boundaries of a precise taxonomy. This is especially true for radio phoenixes
that do not have very well defined observational criteria. Radio phoenixes are
aged radio galaxy lobes whose emission is reactivated by compression or other
mechanisms. Here, we present the detection of a radio phoenix close to the
moment of its formation. The source is located in Abell 1033, a peculiar galaxy
cluster which underwent a recent merger. To support our claim, we present
unpublished Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and Chandra observations
together with archival data from the Very Large Array and the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey. We discover the presence of two sub-clusters displaced along the N-S
direction. The two sub-clusters probably underwent a recent merger which is the
cause of a moderately perturbed X-ray brightness distribution. A steep-spectrum
extended radio source very close to an AGN is proposed to be a newly born radio
phoenix: the AGN lobes have been displaced/compressed by shocks formed during
the merger event. This scenario explains the source location, morphology,
spectral index, and brightness. Finally, we show evidence of a density
discontinuity close to the radio phoenix and discuss the consequences of its
presence.Comment: accepted MNRA
Properties of cosmological filaments extracted from Eulerian simulations
Using a new parallel algorithm implemented within the VisIt framework, we analysed large cosmological grid simulations to study the properties of baryons in filaments. The procedure allows us to build large catalogues with up to∼3×104 filaments per simulated volume and to investigate the properties of cosmic filaments for very large volumes at high resolution (up to 3003 Mpc3 simulated with 20483 cells). We determined scaling relations for the mass, volume, length and temperature of filaments and compared them to those of galaxy clusters. The longest filaments have a total length of about 200 Mpc with a mass of several 1015 M⊙. We also investigated the effects of different gas physics. Radiative cooling significantly modifies the thermal properties of the warm-hot-intergalactic medium of filaments, mainly by lowering their mean temperature via line cooling. On the other hand, powerful feedback from active galactic nuclei in surrounding haloes can heat up the gas in filaments. The impact of shock-accelerated cosmic rays from diffusive shock acceleration on filaments is small and the ratio between cosmic ray and gas pressure within filaments is of the order of∼10-20 per cen
Deep LOFAR 150 MHz imaging of the Bo\"otes field: Unveiling the faint low-frequency sky
We have conducted a deep survey (with a central rms of )
with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) at 120-168 MHz of the Bo\"otes field, with
an angular resolution of , and obtained a sample of
10091 radio sources ( limit) over an area of .
The astrometry and flux scale accuracy of our source catalog is investigated.
The resolution bias, incompleteness and other systematic effects that could
affect our source counts are discussed and accounted for. The derived 150 MHz
source counts present a flattening below sub-mJy flux densities, that is in
agreement with previous results from high- and low- frequency surveys. This
flattening has been argued to be due to an increasing contribution of
star-forming galaxies and faint active galactic nuclei. Additionally, we use
our observations to evaluate the contribution of cosmic variance to the scatter
in source counts measurements. The latter is achieved by dividing our Bo\"otes
mosaic into 10 non-overlapping circular sectors, each one with an approximate
area of The counts in each sector are computed in the
same way as done for the entire mosaic. By comparing the induced scatter with
that of counts obtained from depth observations scaled to 150MHz, we find that
the scatter due to cosmic variance is larger than the Poissonian
errors of the source counts, and it may explain the dispersion from previously
reported depth source counts at flux densities . This work
demonstrates the feasibility of achieving deep radio imaging at low-frequencies
with LOFAR.Comment: A\&A in press. 15 pages, 16 figure
X-ray study of the double radio relic galaxy cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301
Content: We present the results from observations of the merging
cluster of galaxies CIZA J2242.8+5301 at =0.192. Aims. To study the physics
of gas heating and particle acceleration in cluster mergers, we investigated
the X-ray emission from CIZA J2242.8+5301, which hosts two giant radio relics
in the northern/southern part of the cluster. Methods. We analyzed data from
three-pointed Suzaku observations of CIZA J2242.8+5301 to derive the
temperature distribution in four different directions. Results: The
Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM) temperature shows a remarkable drop from
8.5 keV to 2.7 keV across the northern radio
relic. The temperature drop is consistent with a Mach number and a shock velocity
. We also confirm the
temperature drop across the southern radio relic. However, the ICM temperature
beyond this relic is much higher than beyond the northern one, which gives a
Mach number and shock velocity
. These results agree with
other systems showing a relationship between the radio relics and shock fronts
which are induced by merging activity. We compare the X-ray derived Mach
numbers with the radio derived Mach numbers from the radio spectral index under
the assumption of diffusive shock acceleration in the linear test particle
regime. For the northern radio relic, the Mach numbers derived from X-ray and
radio observations agree with each other. Based on the shock velocities, we
estimate that CIZA J2242.8+5301 is observed approximately 0.6 Gyr after core
passage. The magnetic field pressure at the northern relic is estimated to be
9% of the thermal pressure.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, A&A accepte
- …