The nature of the jet-driven outflow in the radio galaxy 3C305

TL;DR

This study uses X-ray and radio observations to analyze the shock-heated plasma in the radio galaxy 3C305, revealing its role in depolarization and energy dynamics driven by jet interactions.

Contribution

It provides a detailed model of the shock-heated X-ray-emitting plasma and its impact on depolarization and energy budget in 3C305, based on combined X-ray and radio data.

Findings

X-ray emission is consistent with shock-heated plasma.

The plasma influences radio depolarization.

Jet power estimated at ~10^43 erg/s.

Abstract

We present Chandra X-ray and VLA radio observations of the radio galaxy 3C305. The X-ray observations reveal the details of the previously known extended X-ray halo around the radio galaxy. We show using X-ray spectroscopy that the X-ray emission is consistent with being shock-heated material and can be modelled with standard collisional-ionization models, rather than being photoionized by the active nucleus. On this basis, we can make a self-consistent model in which the X-ray-emitting plasma is responsible for the depolarization of some regions of the radio emission from the jets and hotspots, and to place lower and upper limits on the magnetic field strength in the depolarizing medium. On the assumption that the X-ray-emitting material, together with the previously-known extended emission-line region and the outflow in neutral hydrogen, are all being driven out of the centre of the galaxy by an interaction with the jets, we derive a detailed energy budget for the radio galaxy, showing that the X-ray-emitting gas dominates the other phases in terms of its energy content. The power supplied by the jets must be ~ 10^43 erg/s.