We present radio images of a sample of six wide-angle tail (WAT) radio sources, identified in the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey 1.4-GHz radio survey, and new spectroscopic redshifts for four of these sources. These WATs are in the redshift range of 0.1469-0.3762, and we find evidence of galaxy overdensities in the vicinity of four of the WATs from either spectroscopic or photometric redshifts. We also present follow-up spectroscopic observations of the area surrounding the largest WAT, S1189, which is at a redshift of ~0.22. The spectroscopic observations, taken using the AAOmega spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, show an overdensity of galaxies at this redshift. The galaxies are spread over an unusually large area of ~12Mpc with a velocity spread of ~4500km/s. This large-scale structure includes a highly asymmetric Fanaroff-Riley type I radio galaxy and also appears to host a radio relic. It may represent an unrelaxed system with different sub-structures interacting or merging with one another. We discuss the implications of these observations for future large-scale radio surveys.
Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters (FIRST) catalogs, we examined the optical environments around double-lobed radio sources. Previous studies have shown that multi-component radio sources exhibiting some degree of bending between components are likely to be found in galaxy clusters. Often this radio emission is associated with a cD-type galaxy at the center of a cluster. We cross-correlated the SDSS and FIRST catalogs and measured the richness of the cluster environments surrounding both bent and straight multi-component radio sources. This led to the discovery and classification of a large number of galaxy clusters out to a redshift of z~0.5.
A fraction of galaxy clusters host diffuse radio sources whose origins are investigated through multi-wavelength studies of cluster samples. We investigate the presence of diffuse radio emission in a sample of seven galaxy clusters in the largely unexplored intermediate redshift range (0.3<z<0.44). In search of diffuse emission, deep radio imaging of the clusters are presented from wide band (1.1-3.1GHz), full resolution (~5-arcsec) observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). The visibilities were also imaged at lower resolution after point source modelling and subtraction and after a taper was applied to achieve better sensitivity to low surface brightness diffuse radio emission. In case of non-detection of diffuse sources, we set upper limits for the radio power of injected diffuse radio sources in the field of our observations. Furthermore, we discuss the dynamical state of the observed clusters based on an X-ray morphological analysis with XMM-Newton. We detect a giant radio halo in PSZ2 G284.97-23.69 (z=0.39) and a possible diffuse source in the nearly relaxed cluster PSZ2 G262.73-40.92 (z=0.421). Our sample contains three highly disturbed massive clusters without clear traces of diffuse emission at the observed frequencies. We were able to inject modelled radio halos with low values of total flux density to set upper detection limits; however, with our high-frequency observations we cannot exclude the presence of RH in these systems because of the sensitivity of our observations in combination with the high z of the observed clusters.
Galaxy clusters: radio halos, relics and parameters
Short Name:
J/ApJ/813/77
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
Diffuse radio emission in galaxy clusters is known to be related to cluster mass and cluster dynamical state. We collect the observed fluxes of radio halos, relics, and mini-halos for a sample of galaxy clusters from the literature, and calculate their radio powers. We then obtain the values of cluster mass or mass proxies from previous observations, and also obtain the various dynamical parameters of these galaxy clusters from optical and X-ray data. The radio powers of relics, halos, and mini-halos are correlated with the cluster masses or mass proxies, as found by previous authors, while the correlations concerning giant radio halos are in general the strongest. We found that the inclusion of dynamical parameters as the third dimension can significantly reduce the data scatter for the scaling relations, especially for radio halos. We therefore conclude that the substructures in X-ray images of galaxy clusters and the irregular distributions of optical brightness of member galaxies can be used to quantitatively characterize the shock waves and turbulence in the intracluster medium responsible for re-accelerating particles to generate the observed diffuse radio emission. The power of radio halos and relics is correlated with cluster mass proxies and dynamical parameters in the form of a fundamental plane.
In recent years, ultrafaint dwarf (UFD) galaxies have been found through systematic searches of large optical surveys. However, the existence of Leo T, a nearby gas-rich dwarf, suggests that there could be other nearby UFDs that are optically obscured but have gas detectable at nonoptical wavelengths. With this in mind, we perform a search of the full Galactic Arecibo L-band Feed Array HI (GALFA-HI) survey, a radio survey that covers one-third of the sky at velocities -650<V_LSR_<+650km/s, for neutral hydrogen sources. We are able to probe regions of the sky at lower Galactic latitudes and smaller |V_LSR_| compared to previous explorations. We use the Source Finding Application on GALFA-HI and select all sources with similar properties to Leo T and other local dwarf galaxies. We find 690 dwarf galaxy candidates, one of which is particularly promising and likely a new galaxy near the Galactic plane (b=-8{deg}) that is comparable in velocity width and HI-flux to other recently discovered local volume galaxies. We find we are sensitive to Leo T-like objects out to 1Mpc at velocities clear from background HI emission. We check each candidate's corresponding optical fields from Pan-STARRS and fit stars drawn from isochrones, but find no evidence of stellar populations. We thus find no other Leo T-like dwarfs within 500 kpc of the Milky Way in the one-third of the sky covered by the GALFA-HI footprint, and discuss our nondetection in a cosmological context.
The conditions leading to the formation of the most massive O-type stars, are still an enigma in modern astrophysics. To assess the physical conditions of high-mass protostars in their main accretion phase, here we present a case study of a young massive clump selected from the ATLASGAL survey, G328.2551-0.5321. The source exhibits a bolometric luminosity of 1.3x10^4^L_{sun}_, which allows us to estimate its current protostellar mass to be between ~11 and 16 M_{sun}_. We show high angular-resolution observations with ALMA reaching a physical scale of ~400au. To reveal the structure of this high-mass protostellar envelope in detail at a ~0.17" resolution, we use the thermal dust continuum emission and spectroscopic information, amongst others from the CO (J=3-2) line, which is sensitive to the high velocity molecular outflow, the SiO (J=8-7), and SO_2_ (J=8_2,6_-7_1,7_) lines tracing shocks along the outflow, as well as several CH_3_OH and HC_3_N lines that probe the gas of the inner envelope in the closest vicinity of the protostar. The dust continuum emission reveals a single high-mass protostellar envelope, down to our resolution limit. We find evidence for a compact, marginally resolved continuum source, which is surrounded by azimuthal elongations that could be consistent with a spiral pattern. We also report on the detection of a rotational line of CH_3_OH within its vt=1 torsionally excited state. This shows two bright peaks of emission spatially offset from the dust continuum peak, and exhibiting a distinct velocity component +/-4.5km/s offset compared to the source Vlsr. Rotational diagram analysis and models based on local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) assumption require high CH3OH column densities reaching N(CH_3_OH)=1.2-2x10^19^cm^-2^, and kinetic temperatures of the order of 160-200K at the position of these peaks. A comparison of their morphology and kinematics with those of the outflow component of the CO line, and the SO2 line suggests that the high excitation CH3OH spots are associated with the innermost regions of the envelope. While the HC_3_N v7=0 (J=37-36) line is also detected in the outflow, the HC_3_N v7=1e (J=38-37) rotational transition within the molecule's vibrationally excited state shows a compact morphology. We find that the velocity shifts at the position of the observed high excitation CH3OH spots correspond well to the expected Keplerian velocity around a central object with 15M_{sun}_ consistent with the mass estimate based on the source's bolometric luminosity. We propose a picture where the CH_3_OH emission peaks trace the accretion shocks around the centrifugal barrier, pinpointing the interaction region between the collapsing envelope and an accretion disk. The physical properties of the accretion disk inferred from these observations suggest a specific angular momentum several times larger than typically observed towards low-mass protostars. This is consistent with a scenario of global collapse setting on at larger scales that could carry a more significant amount of kinetic energy compared to the core collapse models of low-mass star formation. Furthermore, our results suggest that vibrationally exited HC_3_N emission could be a new tracer for compact accretion disks around high-mass protostars.
In preparation for the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), we have compiled a sample of blazar candidates to increase the pool of well-studied active galactic nuclei from which GLAST counterparts will be drawn.
Using survey data, we have re-evaluated the correlation of flat-spectrum radio sources with EGRET sources in the northern sky. An analysis incorporating the radio and X-ray properties and the gamma-ray source localization is used to gauge the reliability of associations and to search for counterparts of previously unidentified EGRET sources. Above |b|=10{deg}, where the classification is complete, we find that 70% of the northern EGRET sources have counterparts similar to the bright EGRET blazars. For several of these we identify known blazar counterparts more likely than the earlier proposed 3EG association; for ~20 we have new identifications. Spectroscopic confirmation of these candidates is in progress, and we have found flat-spectrum radio quasars and BL Lacertae counterparts with redshifts as high as 4. We also find strong evidence for a set of 28 objects with no plausible counterpart like the known EGRET blazars. These thus represent either a new extragalactic population or a population of Galactic objects with a large scale height. The survey has been extended into the plane, where we find several new blazar candidates; the bulk of the sources are, however, Galactic. Looking ahead to the GLAST era, we predict that several of the present 3EG sources are composite and that higher resolution data will break these into multiple blazar identifications.
We present a multiwavelength study of two southern Galactic H II regions G346.056-0.021 and G346.077-0.056 which are located at a distance of 10.9kpc. The distribution of ionized gas, cold and warm dust, and the stellar population associated with the two H II regions are studied in detail using measurements at near-infrared, mid-infrared, far-infrared, submillimeter and radio wavelengths. The radio continuum maps at 1280 and 610MHz were obtained using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope to probe the ionized gas. The dust temperature, column density, and dust emissivity maps were generated using modified blackbody fits in the far-infrared wavelength range 160-500um. Various near- and mid-infrared color and magnitude criteria were adopted to identify candidate ionizing star(s) and the population of young stellar objects in the associated field. The radio maps reveal the presence of diffuse ionized emission displaying distinct cometary morphologies. The 1280MHz flux densities translate to ZAMS spectral types in the range O7.5V-O7V and O8.5V-O8V for the ionizing stars of G346.056-0.021 and G346.077-0.056, respectively. A few promising candidate ionizing star(s) are identified using near-infrared photometric data. The column density map shows the presence of a large, dense dust clump enveloping G346.077-0.056. The dust temperature map shows peaks towards the two HII regions. The submillimeter image shows the presence of two additional clumps, one being associated with G346.056-0.021. The masses of the clumps are estimated to range between ~1400 and 15250M_{sun}_. Based on simple analytic calculations and the correlation seen between the ionized gas distribution and the local density structure, the observed cometary morphology in the radio maps is better explained invoking the champagne-flow model.
of paper: The 91m telescope in Green Blank was used during 1987 October to map 6.0sr of the sky in the [0,+75]degrees declination band at 4.85GHz. We present the 87GB catalog of 54579 discrete sources with angular sizes less than about 10.5arcmin and stronger than S about 25mJy derived from these maps. The catalog positions and flux densities have been corrected for known map biases. Their estimated rms uncertainties were verified by comparison with more accurate positions and flux densities available for some sources. The 4.85GHz normalized source counts S^5/2^.n(S) between 25mJy and 10Jy were obtained and agree well with evolutionary models based on independent data.
