The life cycle of radio galaxies in the LOFAR Lockman Hole field

Abstract

Radio galaxies are known to go through cycles of activity, where phases of apparent quiescence can be followed by repeated activity of the central supermassive black hole. A better understanding of this cycle is crucial for ascertaining the energetic impact that the jets have on the host galaxy, but little is known about it. We used deep LOFAR images at 150 MHz of the Lockman Hole extragalactic field to select a sample of 158 radio sources with sizes $>60^{\prime \prime }$ in different phases of their jet life cycle. Using a variety of criteria (e.g. core prominence combined with low-surface brightness of the extended emission and steep spectrum of the central region) we selected a subsample of candidate restarted radio galaxies representing between 13% and 15% of the 158 sources of the main sample. We compare their properties to the rest of the sample, which consists of remnant candidates and active radio galaxies. Optical identifications and characterisations of the host galaxies indicate similar properties for candidate restarted, remnant, and active radio galaxies, suggesting that they all come from the same parent population. The fraction of restarted radio galaxies is slightly higher with respect to remnants, suggesting that the restarted phase can often follow after a relatively short remnant phase (the duration of the remnant phase being a few times 10${}^7$ years). This confirms that the remnant and restarted phases are integral parts of the life cycle of massive elliptical galaxies. A preliminary investigation does not suggest a strong dependence of this cycle on the environment surrounding any given galaxy.

16 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables, A&A accepted, companion paper to Shabala et al., also in today arXiv posting

References in corpus (29)

• The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes: Insights from Surveys of the Contemporary Universe
• The Dynamic Evolution of Young Extragalactic Radio Sources
• Observational constraints on the merger history of galaxies since $z\approx 6$: Probabilistic galaxy pair counts in the CANDELS fields
• A pilot study of the radio-emitting AGN population: the emerging new class of FR0 radio-galaxies
• Chaotic cold accretion on to black holes in rotating atmospheres
• The duty cycle of local radio galaxies
• In search of dying radio sources in the local universe
• The Energetics and Lifetimes of Local Radio Active Galactic Nuclei
• The MIXR sample: AGN activity versus star formation across the cross-correlation of WISE, 3XMM, and FIRST/NVSS
• Observed properties of FRII quasars and radio galaxies at z < 1.0
• The Lockman Hole project: LOFAR observations and spectral index properties of low-frequency radio sources
• Search and modelling of remnant radio galaxies in the LOFAR Lockman Hole field
• Cycling of the powerful AGN in MS 0735.6+7421 and the duty cycle of radio AGN in Clusters
• LOFAR discovery of an ultra-steep radio halo and giant head-tail radio galaxy in Abell 1132
• RAiSE III: 3C radio AGN energetics and composition
• Remnant radio-loud AGN in the Herschel-ATLAS field
• Three episodes of jet activity in the FRII radio galaxy B0925+420
• RAiSE II: resolved spectral evolution in radio AGN
• NGC 326: X-shaped no more
• Optical and radio properties of extragalactic radio sources with recurrent jet activity
• Markarian 6: shocking the environment of an intermediate Seyfert
• Intermittent jet activity in the radio galaxy 4C29.30?
• On the population of remnant FRII radio galaxies and implications for radio source dynamics
• VLBA Observations of Mrk 6: Probing the Jet-Lobe Connection
• The many lives of active galactic nuclei-II: The formation and evolution of radio jets and their impact on galaxy evolution
• Radio spectral properties and jet duty cycle in the restarted radio galaxy 3C388
• A discovery of young radio sources in the cores of giant radio galaxies selected at hard X-rays
• Discovery of a new, 2.2 Mpc Giant Radio Galaxy at a redshift of 0.57
• The LOFAR view of NGC 3998, a sputtering AGN

Cited by in corpus (38)

• Compact steep-spectrum and peaked-spectrum radio sources
• The LOFAR LBA Sky Survey I. survey description and preliminary data release
• The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields Data Release 1: V. Survey description, source classifications and host galaxy properties
• Accretion mode versus radio morphology in the LOFAR Deep Fields
• MIGHTEE: Are giant radio galaxies more common than we thought?
• Radio spectral properties and jet duty cycle in the restarted radio galaxy 3C388
• First release of Apertif imaging survey data
• Jets in radio galaxies and quasars: an observational perspective
• Ionised gas outflows over the radio AGN life cycle
• The best of both worlds: Combining LOFAR and Apertif to derive resolved radio spectral index images
• The LOFAR view of giant, early-type galaxies: radio emission from active nuclei and star formation
• Multi-frequency characterisation of remnant radio galaxies in the Lockman Hole field
• RAiSE: simulation-based analytical model of AGN jets and lobes
• Unmasking the history of 3C 293 with LOFAR sub-arcsecond imaging
• Radio Spectra of Luminous, Heavily Obscured WISE-NVSS Selected Quasars
• Compact jets dominate the continuum emission in low-luminosity active galactic nuclei
• The Dynamics and Energetics of Remnant and Restarting RLAGN
• AGN Feedback Through Multiple Jet Cycles in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 2639
• A giant radio galaxy with three cycles of episodic jet activity from LoTSS DR2
• J1615+5452: a remnant radio galaxy in the ELAIS-N1 field
• Looking for Signatures of AGN Feedback in Radio-Quiet AGN
• Selecting and Modelling Remnant AGNs with Limited Spectral Coverage
• A super-linear "radio-AGN main sequence'' links mean radio-AGN power and galaxy stellar mass since z$\sim$3
• Search and analysis of giant radio galaxies with associated nuclei (SAGAN) V. Study of giant double-double radio galaxies from LoTSS DR2
• Deep uGMRT observations of the ELAIS-North 1 field: statistical properties of radio--infrared relations up to $z\sim$2
• Finding AGN remnant candidates based on radio morphology with machine learning
• Mapping AGN winds: a connection between radio-mode AGN and the AGN feedback cycle
• The peculiar WAT NGC 2329 with Seyfert/FR I-like radio lobes
• New filamentary remnant radio emission and duty cycle constraints in the radio galaxy NGC 6086
• Deep VLBI Observations Challenge Previous Evidence of a Binary Supermassive Black Hole Residing in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 7674
• Connecting the radio AGN life cycle to feedback: Ionised gas is more disturbed in young radio AGN
• Impact of the finite life-time of UHECR sources
• CosmoDRAGoN simulations -- I. Dynamics and observable signatures of radio jets in cosmological environments
• Young but fading radio sources: searching for remnants among compact steep-spectrum radio sources
• Core prominence as a signature of restarted jet activity in the LOFAR radio-galaxy population
• Hubble Space Telescope Captures UGC~12591: Bulge/Disc Properties, Star Formation and `Missing Baryons' Census in a Very Massive and Fast Spinning Hybrid Galaxy
• Low-frequency integrated radio spectra of diffuse, steep-spectrum sources in galaxy clusters: palaeontology with the MWA and ASKAP
• On the consistency of jet feedback modelling across different astrophysics hydrodynamical codes