No Arabic abstract
Recent analyses of the broad spectral energy distributions (SED) of extensive lobes of local radio-galaxies have confirmed the leptonic origin of their Fermi/LAT gamma-ray emission, significantly constraining the level of hadronic contribution. SED of distant (D > 125 Mpc) radio-galaxy lobes are currently limited to the radio and X-ray bands, hence give no information on the presence of non-thermal (NT) protons but are adequate to describe the properties of NT electrons. Modeling lobe radio and X-ray emission in 3C 98, Pictor A, DA 240, Cygnus A, 3C 326, and 3C 236, we fully determine the properties of intra-lobe NT electrons and estimate the level of the related gamma-ray emission from Compton scattering of the electrons off the superposed Cosmic Microwave Background, Extragalactic Background Light, and source-specific radiation fields.
We present new XMM-Newton EPIC observations of the nuclei of the nearby radio galaxies 3C 305, DA 240, and 4C 73.08, and investigate the origin of their nuclear X-ray emission. The nuclei of the three sources appear to have different relative contributions of accretion- and jet-related X-ray emission, as expected based on earlier work. The X-ray spectrum of the FRII narrow-line radio galaxy (NLRG) 4C 73.08 is modeled with the sum of a heavily absorbed power law that we interpret to be associated with a luminous accretion disk and circumnuclear obscuring structure, and an unabsorbed power law that originates in an unresolved jet. This behavior is consistent with other narrow-line radio galaxies. The X-ray emission of the low-excitation FRII radio galaxy DA 240 is best modeled as an unabsorbed power law that we associate with a parsec-scale jet, similar to other low-excitation sources that we have studied previously. However, the X-ray nucleus of the narrow-line radio galaxy 3C 305 shows no evidence for the heavily absorbed X-ray emission that has been found in other NLRGs. It is possible that the nuclear optical spectrum in 3C 305 is intrinsically weak-lined, with the strong emission arising from extended regions that indicate the presence of jet--environment interactions. Our observations of 3C 305 suggest that this source is more closely related to other weak-lined radio galaxies. This ambiguity could extend to other sources currently classified as NLRGs. We also present XMM-Newton and VLA observations of the hotspot of DA 240, arguing that this is another detection of X-ray synchrotron emission from a low-luminosity hotspot.
We report results on deep Jansky Very Large Array A-configuration observations at 22 GHz of the hotspots of the radio galaxies 3C227 and 3C445. Synchrotron emission in the optical on scales up to a few kpc was reported for the four hotspots. Our VLA observations point out the presence of unresolved regions with upper limit to their linear size of about 100 pc. This is the first time that such compact components in hotspots have been detected in a mini-sample, indicating that they are not a peculiar characteristic of a few individual hotspots. The polarization may reach values up to 70 per cent in compact (about 0.1 kpc scale) regions within the hotspot, indicating a highly ordered magnetic field with size up to a hundred parsecs. On larger scales, the average polarization of the hotspot component is about 30-45 per cent, suggesting the presence of a significant random field component, rather than an ordered magnetic field. This is further supported by the displacement between the peaks in polarized intensity and in total intensity images that is observed in all the four hotspots. The electric vector position angle is not constant, but changes arbitrarily in the central part of the hotspot regions, whereas it is usually perpendicular to the total intensity contours of the outermost edge of the hotspot structure, likely marking the large-scale shock front. The misalignment between X-ray and radio-to-optical emission suggests that the former is tracing the current particle acceleration, whereas the latter marks older shock fronts.
We have examined the giant radio galaxy 3C~236 using LOFAR at 143 MHz down to an angular resolution of 7, in combination with observations at higher frequencies. We have used the low frequency data to derive spectral index maps with the highest resolution yet at these low frequencies. We confirm a previous detection of an inner hotspot in the north-west lobe and for the first time observe that the south-east lobe hotspot is in fact a triple hotspot, which may point to an intermittent source activity. Also, the spectral index map of 3C 236 shows that the spectral steepening at the inner region of the northern lobe is prominent at low frequencies. The outer regions of both lobes show spectral flattening, in contrast with previous high frequency studies. We derive spectral age estimates for the lobes, as well as particle densities of the IGM at various locations. We propose that the morphological differences between the lobes are driven by variations in the ambient medium density as well as the source activity history.
We report multi-frequency observations of large radio galaxies 3C 35 and 3C 284. The low-frequency observations were done with Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope starting from $sim$150 MHz, and the high-frequency observations were done with the Very Large Array. We have studied the radio morphology of these two sources at different frequencies. We present the spectral ageing map using two of the most widely used models, the Kardashev-Pacholczyk and Jaffe-Perola models. Another more realistic and complex Tribble model is also used. We also calculate the jet-power and the speed of the radio lobes of these galaxies. We check for whether any episodic jet activity is present or not in these galaxies and found no sign of such kind of activity.
The Spitzer spectrum of the giant FR II radio galaxy 3C 326 is dominated by very strong molecular hydrogen emission lines on a faint IR continuum. The H2 emission originates in the northern component of a double-galaxy system associated with 3C 326. The integrated luminosity in H2 pure-rotational lines is 8.0E41 erg/s, which corresponds to 17% of the 8-70 micron luminosity of the galaxy. A wide range of temperatures (125-1000 K) is measured from the H2 0-0 S(0)-S(7) transitions, leading to a warm H2 mass of 1.1E9 Msun. Low-excitation ionic forbidden emission lines are consistent with an optical LINER classification for the active nucleus, which is not luminous enough to power the observed H2 emission. The H2 could be shock-heated by the radio jets, but there is no direct indication of this. More likely, the H2 is shock-heated in a tidal accretion flow induced by interaction with the southern companion galaxy. The latter scenario is supported by an irregular morphology, tidal bridge, and possible tidal tail imaged with IRAC at 3-9 micron. Unlike ULIRGs, which in some cases exhibit H2 line luminosities of comparable strength, 3C 326 shows little star-formation activity (~0.1 Msun/yr). This may represent an important stage in galaxy evolution. Starburst activity and efficient accretion onto the central supermassive black hole may be delayed until the shock-heated H2 can kinematically settle and cool