2,652 research outputs found
The Disturbed 17 keV Cluster Associated with the Radio Galaxy 3C 438
We present results from a {\em Chandra} observation of the cluster gas
associated with the FR II radio galaxy 3C 438. This radio galaxy is embedded
within a massive cluster with gas temperature 17 keV and bolometric
luminosity of 6 ergs s. It is unclear if this high
temperature represents the gravitational mass of the cluster, or if this is an
already high ( 11 keV) temperature cluster that has been heated
transiently. We detect a surface brightness discontinuity in the gas that
extends 600 kpc through the cluster. The radio galaxy 3C 438 is too small
(110 kpc across) and too weak to have created this large disturbance in
the gas. The discontinuity must be the result of either an extremely powerful
nuclear outburst or the major merger of two massive clusters. If the observed
features are the result of a nuclear outburst, it must be from an earlier epoch
of unusually energetic nuclear activity. However, the energy required
( ergs) to move the gas on the observed spatial scales strongly
supports the merger hypothesis. In either scenario, this is one of the most
extreme events in the local Universe.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 1 table - accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
Shock heating in the nearby radio galaxy NGC 3801
Original article can be found at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/--Copyright American Astronomical SocietyPeer reviewe
A Chandra study of particle acceleration in the multiple hotspots of nearby radio galaxies
We present Chandra observations of a small sample of nearby classical double
radio galaxies which have more than one radio hotspot in at least one of their
lobes. The X-ray emission from the hotspots of these comparatively low-power
objects is expected to be synchrotron in origin, and therefore to provide
information about the locations of high-energy particle acceleration. In some
models of the relationship between the jet and hotspot the hotspots that are
not the current jet termination point should be detached from the energy supply
from the active nucleus and therefore not capable of accelerating particles to
high energies. We find that in fact some secondary hotspots are X-ray sources,
and thus probably locations for high-energy particle acceleration after the
initial jet termination shock. In detail, though, we show that the spatial
structures seen in X-ray are not consistent with naive expectations from a
simple shock model: the current locations of the acceleration of the
highest-energy observable particles in powerful radio galaxies need not be
coincident with the peaks of radio or even optical emission.Comment: Accepted for ApJ. 33 pages, 8 figures inc. 2 in colo
Focusing on the extended X-ray emission in 3C 459 with a Chandra follow-up observation
6 pages, 4 figures. Reproduced with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics. © 2019 ESO.Aims. We investigated the X-ray emission properties of the powerful radio galaxy 3C 459 revealed by a recent Chandra follow-up observation carried out in October 2014 with a 62 ks exposure. Methods. We performed an X-ray spectral analysis from a few selected regions on an image obtained from this observation and also compared the X-ray image with a 4.9 GHz VLA radio map available in the literature. Results. The dominant contribution comes from the radio core but significant X-ray emission is detected at larger angular separations from it, surrounding both radio jets and lobes. According to a scenario in which the extended X-ray emission is due to a plasma collisionally heated by jet-driven shocks and not magnetically dominated, we estimated its temperature to be ∼0.8 keV. This hot gas cocoon could be responsible for the radio depolarization observed in 3C 459, as recently proposed also for 3C 171 and 3C 305. On the other hand, our spectral analysis and the presence of an oxygen K edge, blueshifted at 1.23 keV, cannot exclude the possibility that the X-ray radiation originating from the inner regions of the radio galaxy could be intercepted by some outflow of absorbing material intervening along the line of sight, as already found in some BAL quasars.Peer reviewe
Detection of non-thermal X-ray emission in the lobes and jets of Cygnus A
This article has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. 21 pages, 8 figuresWe present a spectral analysis of the lobes and X-ray jets of Cygnus A, using more than 2 Ms of observations. The X-ray jets are misaligned with the radio jets and significantly wider. We detect non-thermal emission components in both lobes and jets. For the eastern lobe and jet, we find 1 keV flux densities of nJy and nJy, and photon indices of and respectively. For the western lobe and jet, we find flux densities of nJy and nJy, and photon indices of and respectively. Using these results, we modeled the electron energy distributions of the lobes as broken power laws with age breaks. We find that a significant population of non-radiating particles is required to account for the total pressure of the eastern lobe. In the western lobe, no such population is required and the low energy cutoff to the electron distribution there needs to be raised to obtain pressures consistent with observations. This discrepancy is a consequence of the differing X-ray photon indices, which may indicate that the turnover in the inverse-Compton spectrum of the western lobe is at lower energies than in the eastern lobe. We modeled the emission from both jets as inverse-Compton emission. There is a narrow region of parameter space for which the X-ray jet can be a relic of an earlier active phase, although lack of knowledge about the jet's electron distribution and particle content makes the modelling uncertain.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
A Chandra Study of the Lobe/ISM Interactions Around the Inner Radio Lobes of Centaurus A: Constraints on the Temperature Structure and Transport Processes
We present results from deeper {\em Chandra} observations of the southwest
radio lobe of Centaurus A, first described by Kraft et al. (2003). We find that
the sharp X-ray surface brightness discontinuity extends around 75% of
the periphery of the radio lobe, and detect significant temperature jumps in
the brightest regions of this discontinuity nearest to the nucleus. This
demonstrates that this discontinuity is indeed a strong shock which is the
result of an overpressure which has built up in the entire lobe over time.
Additionally, we demonstrate that if the mean free path for ions to transfer
energy and momentum to the electrons behind the shock is as large as the
Spitzer value, the electron and proton temperatures will not have equilibrated
along the SW boundary of the radio lobe where the shock is strongest. Thus the
proton temperature of the shocked gas could be considerably larger than the
observed electron temperature, and the total energy of the outburst
correspondingly larger as well. We investigate this using a simple
one-dimensional shock model for a two-fluid (proton/electron) plasma. We find
that for the thermodynamic parameters of the Cen A shock the electron
temperature rises rapidly from 0.29 keV (the temperature of the ambient
ISM) to 3.5 keV at which point heating from the protons is balanced by
adiabatic losses. The proton and electron temperatures do not equilibrate in a
timescale less than the age of the lobe. We note that the measured electron
temperature of similar features in other nearby powerful radio galaxies in poor
environments may considerably underestimate the strength and velocity of the
shock.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables - accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
The Hard X-Ray View of Reflection, Absorption, and the Disk-Jet Connection in the Radio-Loud AGN 3C 33
We present results from Suzaku and Swift observations of the nearby radio
galaxy 3C 33, and investigate the nature of absorption, reflection, and jet
production in this source. We model the 0.5-100 keV nuclear continuum with a
power law that is transmitted either through one or more layers of pc-scale
neutral material, or through a modestly ionized pc-scale obscurer. The standard
signatures of reflection from a neutral accretion disk are absent in 3C 33:
there is no evidence of a relativistically blurred Fe K emission line,
and no Compton reflection hump above 10 keV. We find the upper limit to the
neutral reflection fraction is R<0.41 for an e-folding energy of 1 GeV. We
observe a narrow, neutral Fe K line, which is likely to originate at
least 2,000 R_s from the black hole. We show that the weakness of reflection
features in 3C 33 is consistent with two interpretations: either the inner
accretion flow is highly ionized, or the black-hole spin configuration is
retrograde with respect to the accreting material.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap
- …