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Measuring cavity powers of active galactic nuclei in clusters using a hybrid X-ray–radio method. A new window on feedback opened by subarcsecond LOFAR-VLBI observations

Timmerman, R.; van Weeren, R.J.; Botteon, A.; Röttgering, H.J.A.; McNamara, B.R.; Sweijen, F.; Bîrzan, L.; Morabito, L.K.

Measuring cavity powers of active galactic nuclei in clusters using a hybrid X-ray–radio method. A new window on feedback opened by subarcsecond LOFAR-VLBI observations Thumbnail


Authors

R. Timmerman

R.J. van Weeren

A. Botteon

H.J.A. Röttgering

B.R. McNamara

F. Sweijen

L. Bîrzan



Abstract

Measurements of the quantity of radio-mode feedback injected by an active galactic nucleus into the cluster environment have mostly relied on X-ray observations, which reveal cavities in the intracluster medium excavated by the radio lobes. However, the sensitivity required to accurately constrain the dimensions of these cavities has proven to be a major limiting factor and is the main bottleneck on high-redshift measurements. We describe a hybrid method based on a combination of X-ray and radio observations, which aims to enhance our ability to study radio-mode feedback. In this paper, we present one of the first samples of galaxy clusters observed with the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) at 144 MHz and use this sample to test the hybrid method at lower frequencies than before. By comparing our measurements with results found in literature based on the traditional method using only X-ray observations, we find that the hybrid method provides consistent results to the traditional method. In addition, we find that the correlation between the traditional method and the hybrid method improves as the X-ray cavities are more clearly defined. This suggests that using radio lobes as proxies for cavities may help to circumvent systematic uncertainties in the cavity volume measurements. Encouraged by the high volume of unique ILT observations successfully processed, this hybrid method enables radio-mode feedback to be studied at high redshifts for the first time even for large samples of clusters.

Citation

Timmerman, R., van Weeren, R., Botteon, A., Röttgering, H., McNamara, B., Sweijen, F., Bîrzan, L., & Morabito, L. (2022). Measuring cavity powers of active galactic nuclei in clusters using a hybrid X-ray–radio method. A new window on feedback opened by subarcsecond LOFAR-VLBI observations. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 668, Article A65. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202243936

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 7, 2022
Publication Date 2022-12
Deposit Date Aug 1, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 22, 2023
Journal Astronomy & Astrophysics
Print ISSN 0004-6361
Electronic ISSN 1432-0746
Publisher EDP Sciences
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 668
Article Number A65
DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202243936
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1195502
Related Public URLs https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.05088

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