We present MeerKAT 1000 MHz and 1400 MHz observations of a bright radio galaxy in the southern hemisphere, ESO~137-006. The galaxy lies at the centre of the massive and merging Norma galaxy cluster. The MeerKAT continuum images (rms ~0.02 mJy/beam at ~10" resolution) reveal new features that have never been seen in a radio galaxy before: collimated synchrotron threads of yet unknown origin, which link the extended and bent radio lobes of ESO~137-006. The most prominent of these threads stretches in projection for about 80 kpc and is about 1 kpc in width. The radio spectrum of the threads is steep, with a spectral index of up to α≃2 between 1000 MHz and 1400 MHz.
@article{arxiv.2004.03203,
title = {Collimated synchrotron threads linking the radio lobes of ESO137-006},
author = {M. Ramatsoku and M. Murgia and V. Vacca and P. Serra and S. Makhathini and F. Govoni and O. Smirnov and L. A. L. Andati and E. de Blok and G. I. G. Józsa and P. Kamphuis and D. Kleiner and F. M. Maccagni and D. Cs. Molnár and A. J. T. Ramaila and K. Thorat and S. V. White},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.03203},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A letters