X-rays associated with the jet-cloud interacting radio galaxy 3C 277.3 (Coma A): implications for energy deposition

Abstract

We report the discovery with Chandra of X-ray-emitting gas associated with the jet-cloud interaction in the radio galaxy 3C 277.3 (Coma A), a source that falls in the most important power range for radio-mode feedback in the Universe. This hot gas, heated by the jet, dominates the mass of the cloud which is responsible for an extreme projected deflection of the kpc-scale radio jet. Highly absorbed X-ray emission from the nucleus of 3C 277.3 confirms that the jet lies close to the plane of the sky and so has a large intrinsic deflection. We detect group gas on the scale of the radio lobes, and see X-ray cavities coincident with the brightest radio emission, with the lobes embraced by X-ray enhancements that we argue are the result of shocks. The anti-correlation between the locations of X-ray arms and H$\alpha$-emitting filaments that are believed to have originated from a merger with one or more gas-rich galaxies suggests that shocks advancing around the lobe are inhibited by the dense colder material. Synchrotron X-ray emission is detected from the upstream edge of a second bright radio knot. X-rays are also detected from the location where an undetected counterjet enters the northern radio hotspot. We suggest that these X-rays are synchrotron radiation from a shock in a small-scale substructure.

11 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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Cited by in corpus (10)

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• A newly discovered double-double candidate microquasar in NGC 300
• Offsets between X-ray and Radio Components in X-ray Jets: The AtlasX
• The MURALES survey. V. Jet-induced star formation in 3C 277.3 (Coma A)
• The magnetic field strength of the Faraday screen surrounding the radio galaxy Coma A
• X-Ray-to-Radio Offset Inference from Low-Count X-Ray Jets
• A non cool-core 4.6-keV cluster around the bright nearby radio galaxy PKS B1416-493
• A (likely) X-ray jet from NGC6217 observed by XMM-Newton