Measuring cavity powers of active galactic nuclei in clusters using a hybrid X-ray-radio method -- A new window on feedback opened by subarcsecond LOFAR-VLBI observations

Abstract

Measurements of the quantity of radio-mode feedback injected by an active galactic nucleus into the cluster environment have mostly relied on X-ray observations, which reveal cavities in the intracluster medium excavated by the radio lobes. However, the sensitivity required to accurately constrain the dimensions of these cavities has proven to be a major limiting factor and is the main bottleneck on high-redshift measurements. We describe a hybrid method based on a combination of X-ray and radio observations, which aims to enhance our ability to study radio-mode feedback. In this paper, we present one of the first samples of galaxy clusters observed with the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) at 144 MHz and use this sample to test the hybrid method at lower frequencies than before. By comparing our measurements with results found in literature based on the traditional method using only X-ray observations, we find that the hybrid method provides consistent results to the traditional method. In addition, we find that the correlation between the traditional method and the hybrid method improves as the X-ray cavities are more clearly defined. This suggests that using radio lobes as proxies for cavities may help to circumvent systematic uncertainties in the cavity volume measurements. Encouraged by the high volume of unique ILT observations successfully processed, this hybrid method enables radio-mode feedback to be studied at high redshifts for the first time even for large samples of clusters.

Accepted for publication in A&A. 16 pages, 7 figures

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• LOFAR high-band antenna observations of the Perseus cluster
• Cosmic evolution of radio-AGN feedback: confronting models with data
• Central radio galaxies in galaxy clusters: Joint surveys by eROSITA and ASKAP
• The global energetics of radio AGN kinetic feedback in the local universe
• A novel radio imaging method for physical spectral index modelling
• Cooling rate and turbulence in the intracluster medium of the cool-core cluster Abell 2667
• The first high-redshift cavity power measurements of cool-core galaxy clusters with the International LOFAR Telescope
• RAD@home discovery of a bow-and-arrow radio galaxy tracing a ~560 kpc bow-shock structure in a multi-halo environment
• Investigating AGN feedback in H$\alpha$-luminous galaxy clusters: first Chandra X-ray analysis of Abell 2009