Integral field spectroscopy of a jet-cloud interaction in the quasar 3C254
Abstract
We present two-dimensional fibre spectroscopy of the spectacular extended emission-line region surrounding the z=0.734 radio-loud quasar 3C254, and archival ROSAT PSPC data of this source. We confirm that the emission-line nebula is extended over at least 80 kpc, and its morphology is strongly correlated with the radio source structure. The kinematics and intensity of the emission lines ~15 kpc (1.5 arcsec) east of the quasar core strongly indicate an interaction of a radio jet with a dense cloud. Evidence for a high-pressure confining medium comes from the low ionization state of the nebula, given the proximity of the luminous quasar. Over 70 per cent of the total [Oii] lambda3727 luminosity is emitted from the extended emission-line region, but the majority of the [Oiii] lambda5007-line luminosity is from the nucleus. No major ionization change is seen in the nebula at the position of the jet-cloud interaction, but a small region ~1.4 arcsec west of the quasar nucleus shows a markedly higher ionization state. The X-ray spectrum is well- fitted by a power-law with energy index Gamma~2.3, without any excess absorption, and a thermal cluster contribution to the spectrum is also allowed. The emission-line nebula associated with 3C254 shares many of the orientation-independent characteristics of powerful radio galaxies at similar, and higher, redshifts, and strongly supports models seeking to unify the two through orientation to the observer.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- March 1997
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/285.3.580
- Bibcode:
- 1997MNRAS.285..580C
- Keywords:
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- GALAXIES: CLUSTERS: GENERAL;
- COOLING FLOWS;
- QUASARS: EMISSION LINES;
- QUASARS: GENERAL;
- QUASARS: INDIVIDUAL: 3C254;
- X-RAYS: GALAXIES