No Arabic abstract
Active galaxies are the most powerful engines in the Universe for converting gravitational energy into radiation, and their study at all epochs of evolution is therefore important. Powerful radio-loud quasars and radio galaxies have the added advantage that, since their radio jets need X-ray-emitting gas as a medium in which to propagate, the sources can be used as cosmological probes to trace significant atmospheres at high redshift. The radio emission can be used as a measure of source orientation, and sensitive X-ray measurements, especially when used in combination with multi-wavelength data, can be used to derive important results on the physical structures on a range of sizes from the cores to the large-scale components. In this paper we present new results on a significant sample of powerful radio galaxies and quasars at z > 0.5, drawn from the 3CRR catalogue and selected to sample a full range of source orientation. Using high-quality observations from XMM-Newton and Chandra, we discuss the X-ray properties of the cores, jets, lobes and cluster gas, and, through the incorporation of multi-wavelength data, draw conclusions about the nature of the emission from the different components.
We present sensitive, high-resolution, X-ray imaging from Chandra of the high-redshift radio galaxy 4C 41.17 (z=3.8). Our 150-ks Chandra exposure detects strong X-ray emission from a point source coincident with the nucleus of the radio galaxy. In addition we identify extended X-ray emission with a luminosity ~1e45 erg/s covering a 100kpc (15) diameter region around the radio galaxy. The extended X-ray emission follows the general distribution of radio emission in the radio lobes of this source, and the distribution of a giant Lyman-alpha emission line halo, while the spectrum of the X-ray emission is non-thermal and has a power law index consistent with that of the radio synchrotron. We conclude that the X-ray emission is most likely Inverse-Compton scattering of far-infrared photons from a relativistic electron population probably associated with past and current activity from the central object. Assuming an equipartition magnetic field the CMB energy density at z=3.8 can only account for at most 40% of the Inverse-Compton emission. Published submillimeter maps of 4C 41.17 have detected an apparently extended and extremely luminous far-infrared emission around the radio galaxy. We demonstrate that this photon component and its spatial distribution, in combination with the CMB can reproduce the observed X-ray luminosity. We propose that photo-ionization by these Inverse-Compton X-ray photons plays a significant role in this system, and provides a new physical feedback mechanism to preferentially affect the gas within the most massive halos at high redshift. This is the highest redshift example of extended X-ray emission around a radio galaxy currently known. (Abridged)
We present an XMM-Newton observation of the radio galaxy 4C 23.56 at z=2.48 which reveals extended X-ray emission coincident with the radio lobes spanning ~0.5 Mpc. These are the largest X-ray-bright lobes known at z>2. Under the assumption that these features result from inverse-Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons by relativistic electrons in the radio source lobes, the measured luminosity of L_0.5-8 keV=7.5x10^44 erg s^-1 implies a minimum energy stored within the lobes of ~10^59 erg. We discuss the potential of the large-scale radio/X-ray lobes to influence evolution of the host galaxy and proto-cluster environment at high redshift.
We investigate the properties of the environment around 20 powerful radio galaxies and quasars at redshifts between 0.45 and 1. Using XMM-Newton and Chandra observations we probe the spatial distribution and the temperature of the cluster gas. We find that more than 60 per cent of powerful radio sources in the redshift range of our sample lie in a cluster of X-ray luminosity greater than 10^44 erg/s, and all but one of the narrow-line radio galaxies, for which the emission from the nucleus is obscured by a torus, lie in a cluster environment. Within the statistical uncertainties we find no significant difference in the properties of the environment as a function of the orientation to the line of sight of the radio jet. This is in agreement with unification schemes. Our results have important implications for cluster surveys, as clusters around powerful radio sources tend to be excluded from X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich surveys of galaxy clusters, and thus can introduce an important bias in the cluster luminosity function. Most of the radio sources are found close to pressure balance with the environment in which they lie, but the two low-excitation radio galaxies of the sample are observed to be under-pressured. This may be the first observational indication for the presence of non-radiative particles in the lobes of some powerful radio galaxies. We find that the clusters around radio sources in the redshift range of our sample have a steeper entropy-temperature relation than local clusters, and the slope is in agreement with the predictions of self-similar gravitational heating models for cluster gas infall. This suggests that selection by AGN finds systems less affected by AGN feedback than the local average.(Abridged)
We present an extensive X-ray spectral analysis of the cores of 19 FRII sources in the redshift range 0.5<z<1.0 which were selected to be matched in isotropic radio power. The sample consists of 10 radio galaxies and 9 quasars. We compare our results with the expectations from a unification model that ascribes the difference between these two types of sources to the viewing angle to the line of sight, beaming and the presence of a dust and gas torus. We find that the spectrum of all the quasars can be fitted with a single power law, and that the spectral index flattens with decreasing angle to the line of sight. We interpret this as the effect of increasingly dominant inverse Compton X-ray emission, beamed such that the jet emission outshines other core components. For up to 70 per cent of the radio galaxies we detect intrinsic absorption; their core spectra are best fitted with an unabsorbed steep power law of average spectral index $Gamma=2.1$ and an absorbed power law of spectral index Gamma=1.6, which is flatter than that observed for radio-quiet quasars. We further conclude that the presence of a jet affects the spectral properties of absorbed nuclear emission in AGN. In radio galaxies, any steep-spectrum component of nuclear X-ray emission, similar to that seen in radio-quiet quasars, must be masked by a jet or by jet-related emission.
The Star formation rate (SFR) is a crucial parameter to investigate galaxy evolution. At low redshift the cosmic SFR density declines smoothly, and massive active galaxies become passive, reducing their star formation activity. This implies that the bulk of the SFR density at low redshift is mainly driven by low mass objects. We investigate the properties of a sample of low luminosity Far-Infrared (FIR) sources selected at 250 microns from Pappalardo et al. (2015). We have collected data from Ultraviolet to FIR to perform a multi-wavelengths analysis. The main goal is to investigate the correlation between SFR, stellar mass, and dust mass for a galaxy population with a wide range in dust content and stellar mass, including the low mass regime that most probably dominates the SFR density at low z. We define a main sample of ~800 sources with full Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) coverage between 0.15 < lambda < 500 microns and an extended sample with ~5000 sources in which we remove the constraints on the Ultraviolet and Near-Infrared bands. We analyze both samples with two different SED fitting methods: MAGPHYS and CIGALE. In the SFR versus stellar mass plane our samples occupy a region included between local spirals and higher redshift star forming galaxies. The galaxies subsample with the higher masses (M* > 3e10 Msol) does not lie on the main sequence, but shows a small offset, as a consequence of the decreased star formation. Low mass galaxies (M* < 1e10 Msol) settle in the main sequence with SFR and stellar mass consistent with local spirals. Deep Herschel data allow the identification of a mixed galaxy population, with galaxies still in an assembly phase, or galaxies at the beginning of their passive evolution. We find that the dust luminosity is the parameter that discriminates these two galaxy populations.