Multifrequency analysis of the radio emission from a post-merger galaxy CGCG 292-057
Abstract
Galaxies exhibiting a specific large-scale extended radio emission, such as X-shaped radio galaxies, belong to a rare class of winged radio galaxies. The morphological evolution of these radio sources is explained using several theoretical models, including galaxy mergers. However, such a direct link between a perturbed radio morphology and a galaxy merger remains observationally sparse. Here, we investigate a unique radio galaxy J1159+5820, whose host CGCG 292-057 displays the optical signature of a post-merger system with a distinct tidal tail feature, and an X-shaped radio morphology accompanied by an additional pair of inner lobes. We observed the target on a wide range of radio frequencies ranging from 147 to 4959 MHz, using dedicated GMRT and VLA observations, and supplemented it with publicly available survey data for broad-band radio analysis. Particle injection models were fitted to radio spectra of lobes and different parts of the wings. Spectral ageing analysis performed on the lobes and the wings favours a fast jet realignment model with a reorientation time-scale of a few million years. We present our results and discuss the possible mechanisms for the formation of the radio morphology.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- August 2023
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/stad1533
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2305.10576
- Bibcode:
- 2023MNRAS.523.1648M
- Keywords:
-
- radiation mechanisms: non-thermal;
- galaxies: active;
- galaxies: individual: CGCG 297-057;
- galaxies: jets;
- galaxies: peculiar;
- radio continuum: galaxies;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 13 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS