Radio Galaxy Zoo: Observational evidence for environment as the cause of radio source asymmetry

P. E. Rodman; R. J. Turner; S. S. Shabala; J. K. Banfield; O. I. Wong; H. Andernach; A. F. Garon; A. D. Kapinska; R. P. Norris; L. Rudnick

doi:10.1093/mnras/sty3070

Radio Galaxy Zoo: Observational evidence for environment as the cause of radio source asymmetry

P. E. Rodman^*, R. J. Turner, S. S. Shabala, J. K. Banfield, O. I. Wong, H. Andernach, A. F. Garon, A. D. Kapinska, R. P. Norris, L. Rudnick

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We investigate the role of environment on radio galaxy properties by constructing a sample of large (100 kpc), nearby (z < 0.3) radio sources identified as part of the Radio Galaxy Zoo citizen science project. Our sample consists of 16 Fanaroff-Riley Type II (FR-II) sources, 6 FR-I sources, and 1 source with a hybrid morphology. FR-I sources appear to be hosted by more massive galaxies, consistent with previous studies. In the FR-II sample, we compare the degree of asymmetry in radio lobe properties to asymmetry in the radio source environment, quantified through optical galaxy clustering. We find that the length of radio lobes in FR-II sources is anticorrelated with both galaxy clustering and lobe luminosity. These results are in quantitative agreement with predictions from radio source dynamical models and suggest that galaxy clustering provides a useful proxy for the ambient gas density distribution encountered by the radio lobes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	5625-5641
Number of pages	17
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	482
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty3070
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2019

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title = "Radio Galaxy Zoo: Observational evidence for environment as the cause of radio source asymmetry",

abstract = "We investigate the role of environment on radio galaxy properties by constructing a sample of large (100 kpc), nearby (z < 0.3) radio sources identified as part of the Radio Galaxy Zoo citizen science project. Our sample consists of 16 Fanaroff-Riley Type II (FR-II) sources, 6 FR-I sources, and 1 source with a hybrid morphology. FR-I sources appear to be hosted by more massive galaxies, consistent with previous studies. In the FR-II sample, we compare the degree of asymmetry in radio lobe properties to asymmetry in the radio source environment, quantified through optical galaxy clustering. We find that the length of radio lobes in FR-II sources is anticorrelated with both galaxy clustering and lobe luminosity. These results are in quantitative agreement with predictions from radio source dynamical models and suggest that galaxy clustering provides a useful proxy for the ambient gas density distribution encountered by the radio lobes.",

keywords = "Galaxies: active, Galaxies: jets, Radio continuum: galaxies",

author = "Rodman, {P. E.} and Turner, {R. J.} and Shabala, {S. S.} and Banfield, {J. K.} and Wong, {O. I.} and H. Andernach and Garon, {A. F.} and Kapinska, {A. D.} and Norris, {R. P.} and L. Rudnick",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 The Author(s).",

year = "2019",

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day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/sty3070",

language = "English",

volume = "482",

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AU - Rodman, P. E.

AU - Turner, R. J.

AU - Shabala, S. S.

AU - Banfield, J. K.

AU - Wong, O. I.

AU - Andernach, H.

AU - Garon, A. F.

AU - Kapinska, A. D.

AU - Norris, R. P.

AU - Rudnick, L.

PY - 2019/2/1

Y1 - 2019/2/1

N2 - We investigate the role of environment on radio galaxy properties by constructing a sample of large (100 kpc), nearby (z < 0.3) radio sources identified as part of the Radio Galaxy Zoo citizen science project. Our sample consists of 16 Fanaroff-Riley Type II (FR-II) sources, 6 FR-I sources, and 1 source with a hybrid morphology. FR-I sources appear to be hosted by more massive galaxies, consistent with previous studies. In the FR-II sample, we compare the degree of asymmetry in radio lobe properties to asymmetry in the radio source environment, quantified through optical galaxy clustering. We find that the length of radio lobes in FR-II sources is anticorrelated with both galaxy clustering and lobe luminosity. These results are in quantitative agreement with predictions from radio source dynamical models and suggest that galaxy clustering provides a useful proxy for the ambient gas density distribution encountered by the radio lobes.

AB - We investigate the role of environment on radio galaxy properties by constructing a sample of large (100 kpc), nearby (z < 0.3) radio sources identified as part of the Radio Galaxy Zoo citizen science project. Our sample consists of 16 Fanaroff-Riley Type II (FR-II) sources, 6 FR-I sources, and 1 source with a hybrid morphology. FR-I sources appear to be hosted by more massive galaxies, consistent with previous studies. In the FR-II sample, we compare the degree of asymmetry in radio lobe properties to asymmetry in the radio source environment, quantified through optical galaxy clustering. We find that the length of radio lobes in FR-II sources is anticorrelated with both galaxy clustering and lobe luminosity. These results are in quantitative agreement with predictions from radio source dynamical models and suggest that galaxy clustering provides a useful proxy for the ambient gas density distribution encountered by the radio lobes.

KW - Galaxies: active

KW - Galaxies: jets

KW - Radio continuum: galaxies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061094571&partnerID=8YFLogxK

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DO - 10.1093/mnras/sty3070

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 482

SP - 5625

EP - 5641

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 4

ER -

Radio Galaxy Zoo: Observational evidence for environment as the cause of radio source asymmetry

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