The radio halo in PLCKESZ G171.94 $-$ 40.65: Beacon of merging activity

TL;DR

This study presents a detailed multi-frequency analysis of the radio halo in galaxy cluster PLCKESZ G171.94-40.65, revealing its larger extent, uniform spectral properties, and association with active merging processes.

Contribution

First multi-frequency analysis combining uGMRT, JVLA, and Chandra data to characterize the radio halo and discover a new diffuse source in the cluster.

Findings

Radio halo extends ~1.5 Mpc, larger than previously reported.

Radio spectrum is a single power law with spectral index -1.36.

X-ray and radio emissions are morphologically correlated.

Abstract

We present the first multi-frequency analysis of the candidate ultra-steep spectrum radio halo in the galaxy cluster PLCKESZ G171.94$-$40.65, using the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio telescope (uGMRT; 400 MHz), and Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA; 1-2 GHz) observations. Our radio data have been complemented with archival \textit{Chandra} X-ray observations to provide a crucial insight into the complex intracluster medium (ICM) physics, happening at large scales. We detect the radio halo emission to the extent of $\sim$ 1.5 Mpc at 400 MHz, significantly larger than previously reported, along with five tailed galaxies in the central region. We also report the discovery of an unknown diffuse source 'U', at the cluster periphery, with an extent of 300 kpc. Using the available observations, we have found that the radio spectrum of the halo is well-fitted with a single power law, having a spectral index of $-1.36 \pm 0.05$, indicating that it is not an ultra-steep spectrum radio halo. Our low-resolution (25$''$) resolved spectral map shows an overall uniform spectral index, with some patches of fluctuations. The X-ray and radio surface brightness are morphologically co-spatial, with a slight extension along the northwest-southeast direction, seen in both maps. The radio and X-ray surface brightness indicates strong positive correlations, with sub-linear correlation slopes ($\sim$ 0.71). Multiple tailed galaxies and the radio halo indicate a high dynamical activity at the cluster central region.