X-ray Emission and Radio Emission from the Jets and Lobes of the Spiderweb Radio Galaxy

TL;DR

This study uses deep X-ray and radio imaging to analyze the Spiderweb radio galaxy at z=2.16, revealing correlations between emissions, magnetic fields, and environmental interactions, and suggesting it is a high-redshift hybrid morphology radio source.

Contribution

It provides detailed measurements of magnetic fields, pressures, and dynamics in the Spiderweb galaxy, and identifies it as a high-redshift HyMoRS influenced by asymmetric gaseous environment.

Findings

X-ray and radio emissions are correlated on ~100 kpc scales.

Magnetic fields in bright regions are estimated at 50-70 μG.

The galaxy's radio source has an age of ~30 million years.

Abstract

Deep Chandra and VLA imaging reveals a clear correlation between X-ray and radio emission on scales $\sim 100$~kpc in the Spiderweb radio galaxy at z=2.16. The X-ray emission associated with the extended radio source is likely dominated by inverse Compton up-scattering of cosmic microwave background photons by the radio emitting relativistic electrons. For regions dominated by high surface brightness emission, such as hot spots and jet knots, the implied magnetic fields are $\sim 50~\mu$G to $70~\mu$G. The non-thermal pressure is these brighter regions is then $\sim 9\times 10^{-10}$ dyne cm$^{-2}$, or three times larger than the non-thermal pressure derived assuming minimum energy conditions, and an order of magnitude larger than the thermal pressure in the ambient cluster medium. Assuming ram pressure confinement implies an average advance speed for the radio source of $\sim 2400$ km s$^{-1}$, and a source age of $\sim 3\times 10^7$ years. Considering the lower surface brightness, diffuse radio emitting regions, we identify an evacuated cavity in the Ly$\alpha$ emission coincident with the tail of the eastern radio lobe. Making reasonable assumptions for the radio spectrum, we find that the relativistic electrons and fields in the lobe are plausibly in pressure equilibrium with the thermal gas, and close to a minimum energy configuration. The radio morphology suggests that the Spiderweb is a high-$z$ example of the rare class of hybrid morphology radio sources (or HyMoRS), which we attribute to interaction with the asymmetric gaseous environment indicated by the Ly$\alpha$ emission.