Fermi Gamma-ray Imaging of a Radio Galaxy

Abstract

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected the gamma-ray glow emanating from the giant radio lobes of the radio galaxy Centaurus A. The resolved gamma-ray image shows the lobes clearly separated from the central active source. In contrast to all other active galaxies detected so far in high-energy gamma-rays, the lobe flux constitutes a considerable portion (>1/2) of the total source emission. The gamma-ray emission from the lobes is interpreted as inverse Compton scattered relic radiation from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), with additional contribution at higher energies from the infrared-to-optical extragalactic background light (EBL). These measurements provide gamma-ray constraints on the magnetic field and particle energy content in radio galaxy lobes, and a promising method to probe the cosmic relic photon fields.

27 pages, includes Supplementary Online Material; corresponding authors: C.C. Cheung, Y. Fukazawa, J. Knodlseder, L. Stawarz

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• Search for the multiwavelength counterparts to extragalactic unassociated Fermi γ-ray sources
• The origin of the very-high-energy radiation along the jet of Centaurus A
• Complex Structure of the Eastern Lobe of the Pictor A Radio Galaxy: Spectral Analysis and X-ray/Radio Correlations
• An Analysis of Soft X-ray Structures at Kiloparsec Distances from the Active Nucleus of Centaurus A Galaxy
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• Recent advances on multimessenger astrophysics: Centaurus A, GW 170817, and KM3-230213A