A comprehensive study of the radio properties of brightest cluster galaxies

We examine the radio properties of the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in a large sample of X-ray selected galaxy clusters comprising the Brightest Cluster Sample (BCS), the extended BCS and ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-ray cluster catalogues. We have multifrequency radio observations of the BCG using a variety of data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array, Jansky Very Large Array and Very Long Baseline Array telescopes. The radio spectral energy distributions of these objects are decomposed into a component attributed to on-going accretion by the active galactic nuclei (AGN) that we refer to as ‘the core’, and a more diffuse, ageing component we refer to as the ‘non-core’. These BCGs are matched to previous studies to determine whether they exhibit emission lines (principally Hα), indicative of the presence of a strong cooling cluster core. We consider how the radio properties of the BCGs vary with cluster environmental factors. Line emitting BCGs are shown to generally host more powerful radio sources, exhibiting the presence of a strong, distinguishable core component in about 60 per cent of cases. This core component more strongly correlates with the BCG's [O III] 5007 Å line emission. For BCGs in line emitting clusters, the X-ray cavity power correlates with both the extended and core radio emission, suggestive of steady fuelling of the AGN over bubble-rise time-scales in these clusters

The FLASH pilot survey: An H i absorption search against MRC 1-Jy radio sources

We report an ASKAP search for associated H i 21-cm absorption against bright radio sources from the Molonglo Reference Catalogue (MRC) 1-Jy sample. The search uses pilot survey data from the ASKAP First Large Absorption Survey in H i (FLASH) covering the redshift range 0.42 < z < 1.00. From a sample of 62 MRC 1-Jy radio galaxies and quasars, we report three new detections of associated H i 21-cm absorption, yielding an overall detection fraction of. The detected systems comprise two radio galaxies (MRC 2216-281 at z = 0.657 and MRC 0531-237 at z = 0.851) and one quasar (MRC 2156-245 at z = 0.862). The MRC 0531-237 absorption system is the strongest found to date, with a velocity integrated optical depth of. All three objects with detected H i 21-cm absorption are peaked-spectrum or compact steep-spectrum (CSS) radio sources. Two of them show strong interplanetary scintillation at 162 MHz, implying that the radio continuum source is smaller than 1 arcsec in size even at low frequencies. Among the class of peaked-spectrum and compact steep-spectrum radio sources, the H i detection fraction is. All three detections have a high 1.4 GHz radio luminosity, with MRC 0531-237 and MRC 2216-281 having the highest values in the sample,. The preponderance of extended radio sources in our sample could partially explain the overall low detection fraction, while the effects of a redshift evolution in gas properties and AGN UV luminosity on the neutral gas absorption still need to be investigated

CO(1-0) survey of high-z radio galaxies: alignment of molecular halo gas with distant radio sources

We present a CO(1–0) survey for cold molecular gas in a representative sample of 13 highz radio galaxies (HzRGs) at 1.4 <z< 2.8, using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. We detect CO(1–0) emission associated with five sources: MRC 0114-211, MRC 0152-209, MRC 0156-252, MRC 1138-262 and MRC 2048-272. The CO(1–0) luminosities are in the range L CO ∼ (5–9) × 1010 K km s−1 pc2. For MRC 0152-209 and MRC 1138-262, part of the CO(1–0) emission coincides with the radio galaxy, while part is spread on scales of tens of kpc and likely associated with galaxy mergers. The molecular gas mass derived for these two systems is MH2 ∼ 6 × 1010 M� (MH2/L CO = 0.8). For the remaining three CO-detected sources, the CO(1–0) emission is located in the halo (∼50-kpc) environment. These three HzRGs are among the fainter far-IR emitters in our sample, suggesting that similar reservoirs of cold molecular halo gas may have been missed in earlier studies due to pre-selection of IR-bright sources. In all three cases, the CO(1–0) is aligned along the radio axis and found beyond the brightest radio hotspot, in a region devoid of 4.5 µm emission in Spitzerimaging. The CO(1–0) profiles are broad, with velocity widths of ∼1000–3600 km s−1. We discuss several possible scenarios to explain these halo reservoirs of CO(1–0). Following these results, we complement our CO(1–0) study with detections of extended CO from the literature and find at marginal statistical significance (95 per cent level) that CO in HzRGs is preferentially aligned towards the radio jet axis. For the eight sources in which we do not detect CO(1–0), we set realistic upper limits of L CO ∼ 3–4 × 1010 K km s−1 pc2. Our survey reveals a CO(1–0) detection rate of 38 per cent, allowing us to compare the CO(1–0) content of HzRGs with that of other types of high-z galaxies

High time resolution and polarization properties of ASKAP-localized fast radio bursts

Combining high time and frequency resolution full-polarization spectra of fast radio bursts (FRBs) with knowledge of their host galaxy properties provides an opportunity to study both the emission mechanism generating them and the impact of their propagation through their local environment, host galaxy, and the intergalactic medium. The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope has provided the first ensemble of bursts with this information. In this paper, we present the high time and spectral resolution, full polarization observations of five localized FRBs to complement the results published for the previously studied ASKAP FRB 181112. We find that every FRB is highly polarized, with polarization fractions ranging from 80 to 100 per cent, and that they are generally dominated by linear polarization. While some FRBs in our sample exhibit properties associated with an emerging archetype (i.e. repeating or apparently non-repeating), others exhibit characteristic features of both, implying the existence of a continuum of FRB properties. When examined at high time resolution, we find that all FRBs in our sample have evidence for multiple subcomponents and for scattering at a level greater than expected from the Milky Way. We find no correlation between the diverse range of FRB properties (e.g. scattering time, intrinsic width, and rotation measure) and any global property of their host galaxy. The most heavily scattered bursts reside in the outskirts of their host galaxies, suggesting that the source-local environment rather than the host interstellar medium is likely the dominant origin of the scattering in our sample

A single fast radio burst localized to a massive galaxy at cosmological distance

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief radio emissions from distant astronomical sources. Some are known to repeat, but most are single bursts. Nonrepeating FRB observations have had insufficient positional accuracy to localize them to an individual host galaxy. We report the interferometric localization of the single-pulse FRB 180924 to a position 4 kiloparsecs from the center of a luminous galaxy at redshift 0.3214. The burst has not been observed to repeat. The properties of the burst and its host are markedly different from those of the only other accurately localized FRB source. The integrated electron column density along the line of sight closely matches models of the intergalactic medium, indicating that some FRBs are clean probes of the baryonic component of the cosmic web

A serendipitous discovery of H I-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT

We report on the serendipitous discovery of 49 H I-rich galaxies in a 2.3 h Open Time observation with MeerKAT. We present their properties including their H I masses, intensity and velocity maps, and spectra. We determine that at least three H I-rich galaxy groups have been detected, potentially as part of a supergroup. Some members of these galaxy groups show clear interaction with each other in their H I emission. We cross-match the detections with PanSTARRS, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and Galaxy Evolution Explorer, and obtain stellar masses and star formation rates. One source is found to be a potential OH megamaser, but further follow-up is required to confidently determine this. For six sources with sufficient spatial resolution in H I, we produce rotation curves with BBarolo, generate mass models, and derive a dark matter halo mass. While the number of galaxies detected in this relatively short pointing appears to be at the high end of expectations compared to other MeerKAT observations and group H I mass function studies, this finding highlights the capability of MeerKAT for other serendipitous discoveries, and the potential for many more H I-rich galaxies to be revealed within both existing and upcoming Open Time data sets

The RASS-6dFGS catalogue: a sample of X-ray selected AGN from the 6dF Galaxy Survey

We present a catalogue of 3405 X-ray sources from the ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS) Bright Source Catalogue which fall within the area covered by the 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS). The catalogue is count-rate limited at 0.05 cts s−1 in the X-ray and covers the area of sky with δ 10°. The RASS–6dFGS sample was one of the additional target catalogues of the 6dFGS and as a result we obtained optical spectra for 2224 (65 per cent) RASS sources. Of these, 1715 (77 per cent) have reliable redshifts with a median redshift of z= 0.16 (excluding the Galactic sources). For the optically bright sources (bJ≤ 17.5) in the observed sample, over 90 per cent have reliable redshifts. The catalogue mainly comprises quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) and active galaxies but also includes 238 Galactic sources. Of the sources with reliable redshifts the majority are type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN, 69 per cent), while 12 per cent are type 2 AGN, 6 per cent absorption-line galaxies and 13 per cent are stars. We also identify a small number of optically faint, very low redshift, compact objects which fall outside the general trend in the bJ−z plane. The RASS–6dFGS catalogue complements a number of Northern hemisphere samples, particularly the ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue–NRAO VLA Sky Survey (RBSC–NVSS) sample (Bauer et al. 2000), and furthermore, in the same region of sky (−40° < δ < 0°) reveals an additional 561 sources that were not identified as part of that sample. We detect 918 sources (27 per cent) of the RASS–6dFGS sample in the radio using either the 1.4 GHz NVSS or the 843 MHz Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey (SUMSS) catalogues and find that the detection rate changes with redshift. At redshifts larger than 1 virtually all of these sources have radio counterparts and with a median flux density of 1.15 Jy, they are much stronger than the median flux density of 28.6 mJy for the full sample. We attribute this to the fact that the X-ray flux of these objects is being boosted by a jet component, possibly Doppler boosted, that is only present in radio-loud AGN. The RASS–6dFGS sample provides a large set of homogeneous optical spectra ideal for future studies of X-ray emitting AGN