Core prominence as a signature of restarted jet activity in the LOFAR radio-galaxy population

Abstract

(abridged) Characterizing duty cycles of recurrent phases of dormancy and activity in supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei is crucial in understanding impact of energy released on host galaxies and their evolution. However, identifying sources in quiescent and restarted phases is challenging. Our goal is to identify and characterize a substantial sample of radio galaxies in restarted phase and explore core prominence as a signature of this activity. We expand our prior study from a $30\mathrm{de}{\mathrm{g}}^2$ area in Lockman Hole to a larger $424\mathrm{de}{\mathrm{g}}^2$ region in Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) field using visually selected core-dominated radio galaxies. We used 144 MHz LOFAR survey images to identify galaxies with restarting jets. By applying selection criteria, including radio core dominance, low surface brightness extended emission, spectral index properties, and morphology, we found 69 candidate restarted radio galaxies. These candidates show diverse intrinsic morphology, spanning FRI, FRII, core-with-halo, and asymmetric forms, suggesting different progenitors. Among these, nine galaxies exhibit ultra-steep spectrum extended emission combined with high radio core prominence, representing previous and current epochs of jet activity. This subset supports a model where the switch-on and switch-off mechanism occurs with fast duty cycle. The restarted candidates span radio luminosities from log${}_{10}$(L${}_{144MHz}$/$\mathrm{WH}{\mathrm{z}}^{-1}$) = 23.24 to 26.80, with sizes between 88 and 1659 kpc, including 16 giant radio galaxies. Their total stellar content aligns with massive elliptical galaxies. Our findings at $z<0.4$ suggest that many restarting galaxies are not found in rich cluster environments, consistent with broader radio-galaxy population. This study confirms core prominence as an effective parameter for selecting restarted radio sources.

arXiv comment28 pages, 18 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (89)

• Planck 2015 results. XIII. Cosmological parameters
• The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE): Mission Description and Initial On-orbit Performance
• redMaPPer I: Algorithm and SDSS DR8 Catalog
• Identifying Luminous AGN in Deep Surveys: Revised IRAC Selection Criteria
• The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey - II. First data release
• The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey -- V. Second data release
• Mid-Infrared Selection of Active Galactic Nuclei with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. II. Properties of WISE-Selected Active Galactic Nuclei in the NDWFS Boötes Field
• A catalog of 132,684 clusters of galaxies identified from Sloan Digital Sky Survey III
• AGN outflows and feedback twenty years on
• The Nature and Evolution of Classical Double Radio Sources from Complete Samples
• Low Resolution Spectral Templates For AGNs and Galaxies From 0.03 -- 30 microns
• Extending the Nearby Galaxy Heritage with WISE: First Results from the WISE Enhanced Resolution Galaxy Atlas
• Radio galaxies with a `double-double' morphology: I - Analysis of the radio properties and evidence for interrupted activity in active galactic nuclei
• AGN-controlled cooling in elliptical galaxies
• Radio galaxies and feedback from AGN jets
• Compact steep-spectrum and peaked-spectrum radio sources
• Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Mid-Infrared Properties and Empirical Relations from $WISE$
• Revisiting the Fanaroff-Riley dichotomy and radio-galaxy morphology with the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)
• The Dynamic Evolution of Young Extragalactic Radio Sources
• The LoTSS view of radio AGN in the local Universe. The most massive galaxies are always switched on
• Characterizing the Mid-IR Extragalactic Sky with WISE and SDSS
• LOFAR/H-ATLAS: The low-frequency radio luminosity - star-formation rate relation
• Extragalactic Peaked-Spectrum Radio Sources at Low Frequencies
• Systematic properties of decelerating relativistic jets in low-luminosity radio galaxies
• Radio-loud AGN in the first LoTSS data release: The lifetimes and environmental impact of jet-driven sources
• The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) III. First Data Release: optical/IR identifications and value-added catalogue
• A pilot study of the radio-emitting AGN population: the emerging new class of FR0 radio-galaxies
• Giant Radio Sources
• A simulation-based analytic model of radio galaxies
• Chaotic cold accretion on to black holes in rotating atmospheres
• In search of dying radio sources in the local universe
• The Energetics and Lifetimes of Local Radio Active Galactic Nuclei
• Giant radio galaxies in the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey-I
• The MIXR sample: AGN activity versus star formation across the cross-correlation of WISE, 3XMM, and FIRST/NVSS
• Mid-Infrared Galaxy Morphology Along the Hubble Sequence
• The WISE properties of complete samples of radio-loud AGN
• The triggering probability of radio-loud AGN: A comparison of high and low excitation radio galaxies in hosts of different colors
• Centaurus A: multiple outbursts or bursting bubble?
• The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields Data Release 1: V. Survey description, source classifications and host galaxy properties
• A new sample of giant radio galaxies from the WENSS survey II - A multi-frequency radio study of a complete sample: Properties of the radio lobes and their environment
• Search and modelling of remnant radio galaxies in the LOFAR Lockman Hole field
• Broadband Spectral Modeling of the Extreme Gigahertz-Peaked Spectrum Radio Source PKS B0008-421
• Sub-arcsecond imaging with the International LOFAR Telescope I. Foundational calibration strategy and pipeline
• A Radio Study of the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 6: Implications for Seyfert life-cycles
• The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey IV. First Data Release: Photometric redshifts and rest-frame magnitudes
• J1420--0545: The radio galaxy larger than 3C236
• LoTSS DR1: Double-double radio galaxies in the HETDEX field
• How frequent are close supermassive binary black holes in powerful jet sources?
• Remnant radio-loud AGN in the Herschel-ATLAS field
• The duty cycle of radio galaxies revealed by LOFAR: remnant and restarted radio source populations in the Lockman Hole
• LOFAR-Boötes: Properties of high- and low-excitation radio galaxies at $0.5<z<2.0$
• The environments of radio-loud AGN from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)
• Radio properties of Compact Steep Spectrum and GHz-Peaked Spectrum radio sources
• ATLBS Extended Source Sample: The evolution in radio source morphology with flux density
• Accretion mode versus radio morphology in the LOFAR Deep Fields
• The life cycle of radio galaxies in the LOFAR Lockman Hole field
• Recurrent radio emission and gas supply: the case of the radio galaxy B2 0258+35
• NGC 326: X-shaped no more
• The new sample of Giant radio sources: I. Radio imaging, optical identification and spectroscopy of selected candidates
• Optical and radio properties of extragalactic radio sources with recurrent jet activity
• Markarian 6: shocking the environment of an intermediate Seyfert
• On the population of remnant FRII radio galaxies and implications for radio source dynamics
• Measuring the giant radio galaxy length distribution with the LoTSS
• Duty cycle of the radio galaxy B2 0258+35
• VLBA Observations of Mrk 6: Probing the Jet-Lobe Connection
• Radio spectral properties and jet duty cycle in the restarted radio galaxy 3C388
• Radio source feedback in galaxy evolution
• A robust derivation of the tight relationship of radio core dominance to inclination angle in high redshift 3CRR sources
• Restarting activity in the nucleus of PBC J2333.9-2343: an extreme case of jet realignment
• Multiwavelength study of Cygnus A I. Precession and slow jet speeds from radio observations
• Remnant Radio Galaxies Discovered in a Multi-frequency Survey
• Hard X-ray selected giant radio galaxies -- II. Morphological evidence of restarted radio activity
• A discovery of young radio sources in the cores of giant radio galaxies selected at hard X-rays
• The best of both worlds: Combining LOFAR and Apertif to derive resolved radio spectral index images
• The jet/wind outflow in Centaurus A: a local laboratory for AGN feedback
• The giant lobes of Centaurus A observed at 118 MHz with the Murchison Widefield Array
• 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
• Unmasking the history of 3C 293 with LOFAR sub-arcsecond imaging
• A Chandra Study of the Radio Galaxy NGC 326: Wings, Outburst History, and AGN Feedback
• Hard X-ray selected giant radio galaxies -- III. The LOFAR view
• High-resolution international LOFAR observations of 4C~43.15 -- Spectral ages and injection indices in a high-z radio galaxy
• A rare example of low surface-brightness radio lobes in a gas-rich early-type galaxy: the story of NGC 3998
• The LOFAR view of NGC 3998, a sputtering AGN
• Search and characterization of remnant radio galaxies in the XMM$-$LSS deep field
• Multiwavelength monitoring of the nucleus in PBC J2333.9-2343: the giant radio galaxy with a blazar-like core
• Apertif 1.4 GHz continuum observations of the Boötes field and their combined view with LOFAR
• Young but fading radio sources: searching for remnants among compact steep-spectrum radio sources
• The LOFAR view of massive early-type galaxies: Transition from radio AGN to host emission