Spectral Structure in FRII Radio Galaxies and Jets

Abstract

Using spectral tomography to separate overlapping spectral features in a sample of FRII radio galaxies, we find a variety of spatial/spectral features that are not easily described in the context of current models. In particular, we find mixtures of flat and steep spectrum features in the hot spot regions, and non-monotonic spectral index gradients along jets. Additional findings include spectral gradients in compact hot spots and possible transitions in jet properties at the downstream ends of the diffuse lobes. The complexity of behaviors uncovered here points to the need for a thorough investigation of numerical models for radio galaxies, as well as detailed observational studies of larger, unbiased samples. We also perform the first quantitative assessment of errors in the use of spectral tomography for spectral index measurements.

37 pages, 10 figures, Ap. J. in press

References in corpus (3)

• Chandra observations of the X-ray jet in 3C66B
• Simulating Electron Transport and Synchrotron Emission in Radio Galaxies: Shock Acceleration and Synchrotron Aging in Three-Dimensional Flows
• VLBI, MERLIN and HST observations of the giant radio galaxy 3C236

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Spectral ageing in the lobes of FR-II radio galaxies: New methods of analysis for broadband radio data
• Pearson-Readhead Survey Sources II: The Longterm Centimeter-band Total Flux and Linear Polarization Properties of a Complete Radio Sample
• Spectral ageing in the lobes of cluster-centre FR-II radio galaxies
• The Electron Energy Distribution in the Hotspots of Cygnus A: Filling the Gap with the Spitzer Space Telescope
• A method of estimation of the dynamical age of FR II-type radio sources from multifrequency data
• GLOSTAR -- Radio Source Catalog I: $28^{\circ }<\text{l}<36^{\circ }$ and $|b|<1^{\circ }$
• The Particle Content of Extragalactic Jets
• Canonical Particle Acceleration in FRI Radio Galaxies
• The properties of powerful radio sources at 90 GHz
• Ultra-High Energy Cosmic-Ray Acceleration in the Jet of Centaurus A
• A Spectacular Bow Shock in the 11 keV Galaxy Cluster Around 3C 438
• High-resolution observations of SDSS J080800.99+483807.7 in the optical and radio domains. A possible example of jet-triggered star formation
• The infrared-dominated jet of 3C401
• The Disturbed 17 keV Cluster Associated with the Radio Galaxy 3C 438
• EMU and the DRAGNs I: A Catalogue of DRAGNs
• Suppression of resistive hose instability in a relativistic electron-positron flow