1. LOFAR imaging of Cygnus A - direct detection of a turnover in the hotspot radio spectra
- Author
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Aris Karastergiou, Michael W. Wise, Gianni Bernardi, Heino Falcke, L. Cerrigone, D. Engels, Michel Tagger, Simona Vegetti, Anna Nelles, R. Morganti, John D. Swinbank, Leith Godfrey, George Heald, I. van Bemmel, E. Juette, P. Maat, Sera Markoff, V. I. Kondratiev, Léon V. E. Koopmans, Huib Intema, Adam Deller, H. Munk, J. W. Broderick, Marcus Brüggen, R. Blaauw, J. Sluman, M. Iacobelli, R. J. van Weeren, Roberto Pizzo, Philip Best, A. J. van der Horst, D. McKay-Bukowski, Wilfred Frieswijk, M. Pandey-Pommier, Martin J. Hardcastle, M. Pietka, Aleksandar Shulevski, Rainer Beck, Satyendra Thoudam, M. Serylak, Matthias Steinmetz, Anna M. M. Scaife, Emanuela Orrú, Antonia Rowlinson, D. D. Mulcahy, Sarod Yatawatta, H. Paas, Adam Stewart, S. Duscha, I. M. Avruch, Frank Breitling, B. Ciardi, John McKean, H. J. A. Röttgering, R. C. Vermeulen, Oleg Smirnov, Olaf Wucknitz, W. Reich, Gottfried Mann, F. de Gasperin, P. Zarka, M. Kuniyoshi, D. Rafferty, Martin Bell, Richard Fallows, James M. Anderson, G. Kuper, Mark J. Bentum, M. A. Garrett, J.-M. Grießmeier, Matthias Hoeft, Christian Vocks, M. P. van Haarlem, M. C. Toribio, A. G. Polatidis, J. van Leeuwen, Annalisa Bonafede, Rebecca McFadden, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek (AI PANNEKOEK), University of Amsterdam [Amsterdam] (UvA), University of Hertfordshire [Hatfield] (UH), Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics [PennState], Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), Penn State System-Penn State System, Department of Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences [Hampton] (APS), Hampton University, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute [Groningen], University of Groningen [Groningen], Université de Tours (UT), CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [Canberra] (CSIRO), University of Southampton, Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies (LPNHE), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Edinburgh, Jacobs University [Bremen], Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Hamburger Sternwarte/Hamburg Observatory, Universität Hamburg (UHH), Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP), Radboud University [Nijmegen], Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Leiden Observatory [Leiden], Universiteit Leiden, Unité Scientifique de la Station de Nançay (USN), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE ERIC), Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS), Faculty of mathematics Centre for Mathematical Sciences [Cambridge] (CMS), University of Cambridge [UK] (CAM)-University of Cambridge [UK] (CAM), Ruhr-Universität Bochum [Bochum], Oxford Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIFR), University of Oulu, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (CRAL), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), School of Physics and Astronomy [Southampton], Department of Physics and Astronomy [South Africa], University of the Western Cape (UWC), Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Leibniz-Institut DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH / Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ), Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics [Boulder] (LASP), University of Colorado [Boulder], Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), Harvard University-Smithsonian Institution, Argelander-Institut für Astronomie (AlfA), Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), European Project: 320745,EC:FP7:ERC,ERC-2012-ADG_20120216,RADIOLIFE(2013), Astronomy, McKean, J.P., Godfrey, L.E.H., Vegetti, S., Wise, M.W., Morganti, R., Hardcastle, M.J., Rafferty, D., Anderson, J., Avruch, I.M., Beck, R., Bell, M.E., van Bemmel, I., Bentum, M.J., Bernardi, G., Best, P., Blaauw, R., Bonafede, A., Breitling, F., Broderick, J.W., Brüggen, M., Cerrigone, L., Ciardi, B., de Gasperin, F., Deller, A., Duscha, S., Engels, D., Falcke, H., Fallows, R.A., Frieswijk, W., Garrett, M.A., Grießmeier, J.M., van Haarlem, M.P., Heald, G., Hoeft, M., van der HorstA.J., null, Iacobelli, M., Interna, H., Juette, E., Karastergiou, A., Kondratiev, V.I., Koopmans, L.V.E., Kuniyoshi, M., Kuper, G., van Leeuwen, J., Maat, P., Mann, G., Markoff, S., McFadden, R., McKay-Bukowski, D., Mulcahy, D.D., Munk, H., Nelles, A., Orru, E., Paas, H., Pandey-Pommier, M., Pietka, M., Pizzo, R., Polatidis, A.G., Reich, W., Rottgering, H.J.A., Rowlinson, A., Scaife, A.M.M., Serylak, M., Shulevski, A., Sluman, J., Smirnov, O., Steinmetz, M., Stewart, A., Swinbank, J., Tagger, M., Thoudam, S., Toribio, M.C., Vermeulen, R., Vocks, C., van Weeren, R.J., Wucknitz, O., Yatawatta, S., Zarka, P., High Energy Astrophys. & Astropart. Phys (API, FNWI), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Radboud university [Nijmegen], Universiteit Leiden [Leiden], Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO), University of Oxford [Oxford], École normale supérieure - Lyon (ENS Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), University of the Western Cape, Smithsonian Institution-Harvard University [Cambridge], ITA, GBR, FRA, DEU, NLD, Université de Tours, Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), and Harvard University [Cambridge]-Smithsonian Institution
- Subjects
Radio galaxy ,Astronomy ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics ,01 natural sciences ,Radio continuum: galaxie ,Spectral line ,Radio spectrum ,Radio continuum: galaxies ,Galaxies: active: individual: Cygnus A ,X-shaped radio galaxy ,0103 physical sciences ,Cygnus A ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,Physics ,Spectral index ,EWI-27659 ,010308 nuclear & particles physics ,LOBES ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,LOFAR ,Astronomy and Astrophysic ,Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies ,Galaxy ,galaxies [radio continuum] ,GALAXIES ,METIS-321690 ,RESOLUTION ,Space and Planetary Science ,HOT-SPOTS ,GAS ,[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] ,Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) ,ComputingMethodologies_DOCUMENTANDTEXTPROCESSING ,ARRAY ,IR-103274 - Abstract
The low-frequency radio spectra of the hotspots within powerful radio galaxies can provide valuable information about the physical processes operating at the site of the jet termination. These processes are responsible for the dissipation of jet kinetic energy, particle acceleration, and magnetic-field generation. Here we report new observations of the powerful radio galaxy Cygnus A using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) between 109 and 183 MHz, at an angular resolution of ~3.5 arcsec. The radio emission of the lobes is found to have a complex spectral index distribution, with a spectral steepening found towards the centre of the source. For the first time, a turnover in the radio spectrum of the two main hotspots of Cygnus A has been directly observed. By combining our LOFAR imaging with data from the Very Large Array at higher frequencies, we show that the very rapid turnover in the hotspot spectra cannot be explained by a low-energy cut-off in the electron energy distribution, as has been previously suggested. Thermal (free-free) absorption or synchrotron self absorption models are able to describe the low-frequency spectral shape of the hotspots, however, as with previous studies, we find that the implied model parameters are unlikely, and interpreting the spectra of the hotspots remains problematic., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS
- Published
- 2016
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