Collimation of the kiloparsec-scale radio jets in NGC 2663
Abstract
We present the discovery of highly collimated radio jets spanning a total of 355 kpc around the nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 2663, and the possible first detection of recollimation on kiloparsec scales. The small distance to the galaxy (~28.5 Mpc) allows us to resolve portions of the jets to examine their structure. We combine multiwavelength data: radio observations by the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), and X-ray data from Chandra, Swift, and SRG/eROSITA. We present intensity, rotation measure, polarization, spectral index, and X-ray environment maps. Regions of the southern jet show simultaneous narrowing and brightening, which can be interpreted as a signature of the recollimation of the jet by external, environmental pressure, though it is also consistent with intermittent active galactic nuclei or complex internal jet structure. X-ray data suggest that the environment is extremely poor; if the jet is indeed recollimating, the large recollimation scale (40 kpc) is consistent with a slow jet in a low-density environment.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- October 2022
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/stac2012
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2207.06713
- Bibcode:
- 2022MNRAS.516.1865V
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: active;
- galaxies: jets;
- radio continuum: general;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 16 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS