Two types of shock in the hotspot of the giant quasar 4C74.26: a high-resolution comparison from Chandra, Gemini & MERLIN

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution multi-wavelength observations to reveal a complex double-shock structure in the hotspot of quasar 4C74.26, providing insights into jet-environment interactions at large scales.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed high-resolution imaging of the hotspot structure, identifying two distinct shock features and their multi-wavelength counterparts.

Findings

Identification of two distinct shock features in the hotspot.

Correlation of X-ray, optical, and radio emissions in the hotspot.

Revealing the spatial separation between the shocks and the nucleus.

Abstract

New Chandra observations have resolved the structure of the X-ray luminous southern hotspot in the giant radio quasar 4C74.26 into two distinct features. The nearer one to the nucleus is an extremely luminous peak, extended some 5 kpc perpendicular to the orientation of the jet; 19 kpc projected further away from the central nucleus than this is a fainter X-ray arc having similar symmetry. This arc is co-spatial with near-IR and optical emission imaged with Gemini, and radio emission imaged with MERLIN. The angular separation of the double shock structure (itself ~19 kpc or 10 arcsec in size) from the active nucleus which fuels them of ~550 kpc is a reminder of the challenge of connecting "unidentified" hard X-ray or Fermi sources with their origins.