One Source, Two Source(s): Ribs and Tethers
Abstract
We present the unique and challenging case of a radio galaxy in Abell 3266 observed as part of the MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey. It has quasi-periodic bright patches along the tail which connect to never-before-seen thin transverse extensions, which we call `ribs', reaching up to approx. 50 kpc from the central axis of the tail. At a distance of approx. 400 kpc from the host (assuming the z=0.0594 redshift of Abell 3266) we find what appears to be a triple source with its own apparent host at a photometric redshift of 0.78. Mysteriously, the part of the tail far from the host and the triple are connected by a series of thin filaments, which we call "tethers." The far tail, tethers and triple also have similar spectra and Faraday rotation measures, suggesting that there is only one -- quite complicated -- source, with a serendipitous background AGN in the triple. We look at possible causes for the "rib" and "tether" structures, and the emerging phenomena of intracluster medium filaments associated with radio galaxies.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2110.09961,
title = {One Source, Two Source(s): Ribs and Tethers},
author = {Lawrence Rudnick and William Cotton and Kenda Knowles and Konstantinos Kolokythas},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.09961},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
13 pages. 10 figures. Accepted for publication in special issue of Galaxies, from the conference "A New Window on the Radio Emission from Galaxies, Galaxy Clusters and Cosmic Web: Current Status and Perspectives"