X-rays associated with the jet-cloud interacting radio galaxy 3C 277.3 (Coma A): implications for energy deposition

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of X-ray-emitting gas associated with jet-cloud interactions in the radio galaxy 3C 277.3, revealing insights into energy deposition, feedback processes, and shock phenomena in galaxy evolution.

Contribution

First detection of X-ray-emitting gas linked to jet-cloud interactions in 3C 277.3, providing new evidence for jet-induced heating and shock-related features in radio galaxies.

Findings

X-ray-emitting gas dominates the mass of the jet-affected cloud.

X-ray cavities and shocks are observed around radio lobes.

Synchrotron X-ray emission detected at jet knots and hotspots.

Abstract

We report the discovery with Chandra of X-ray-emitting gas associated with the jet-cloud interaction in the radio galaxy 3C 277.3 (Coma A), a source that falls in the most important power range for radio-mode feedback in the Universe. This hot gas, heated by the jet, dominates the mass of the cloud which is responsible for an extreme projected deflection of the kpc-scale radio jet. Highly absorbed X-ray emission from the nucleus of 3C 277.3 confirms that the jet lies close to the plane of the sky and so has a large intrinsic deflection. We detect group gas on the scale of the radio lobes, and see X-ray cavities coincident with the brightest radio emission, with the lobes embraced by X-ray enhancements that we argue are the result of shocks. The anti-correlation between the locations of X-ray arms and H$\alpha$-emitting filaments that are believed to have originated from a merger with one or more gas-rich galaxies suggests that shocks advancing around the lobe are inhibited by the dense colder material. Synchrotron X-ray emission is detected from the upstream edge of a second bright radio knot. X-rays are also detected from the location where an undetected counterjet enters the northern radio hotspot. We suggest that these X-rays are synchrotron radiation from a shock in a small-scale substructure.