Jet collimation and acceleration in the giant radio galaxy NGC 315

TL;DR

This study investigates the structure, collimation, and acceleration mechanisms of jets in the giant radio galaxy NGC 315, revealing a transition from parabolic to conical shapes, gradual acceleration, and limb-brightening indicative of stratified flow or external interactions.

Contribution

It provides detailed observational evidence linking jet geometry, magnetic field configurations, and acceleration zones, advancing understanding of jet collimation and acceleration in radio galaxies.

Findings

Jet geometry transitions from semi-parabolic to conical at ~10^5 gravitational radii.

Jet acceleration up to Lorentz factor ~3 occurs in the collimation region.

Limb-brightening suggests stratified velocity or interaction with surrounding medium.

Abstract

We study the collimation and acceleration of the jets in the nearby giant radio galaxy NGC 315, using multifrequency Very Long Baseline Array observations and archival High Sensitivity Array and Very Large Array data. We find that the jet geometry transitions from a semi-parabolic shape into a conical/hyperbolic shape at a distance of $\approx10^5$ gravitational radii. We constrain the frequency-dependent position of the core, from which we locate the jet base. The jet collimation profile in the parabolic region is in good agreement with the steady axisymmetric force-free electrodynamic solution for the outermost poloidal magnetic field line anchored to the black hole event horizon on the equatorial plane, similar to the nearby radio galaxies M87 and NGC 6251. The velocity field derived from the asymmetry in brightness between the jet and counterjet shows gradual acceleration up to the bulk Lorentz factor of $\Gamma \sim 3$ in the region where the jet collimation occurs, confirming the presence of the jet acceleration and collimation zone. These results suggest that the jets are collimated by the pressure of the surrounding medium and accelerated by converting Poynting flux to kinetic energy flux. We discover limb-brightening of the jet in a limited distance range where the angular resolution of our data is sufficient to resolve the jet transverse structure. This indicates that either the jet has a stratified velocity field of fast-inner and slow-outer layers or the particle acceleration process is more efficient in the outer layer due to the interaction with the surroundings on pc-scales.