A multifrequency study of possible relic lobes in giant radio sources

We present low-frequency observations with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope of three giant radio sources (GRSs: J0139+3957, J0200+4049 and J0807+7400) with relaxed diffuse lobes which show no hotspots and no evidence of jets. The largest of these three, J0200+4049, exhibits a depression in the centre of the western lobe, while J0139+3957 and J0807+7400 have been suggested earlier by Klein et al. and Lara et al., respectively, to be relic radio sources. We estimate the ages of the lobes. We also present Very Large Array observations of the core of J0807+7400, and determine the core radio spectra for all three sources. Although the radio cores suggest that the sources are currently active, we explore the possibility that the lobes in these sources are due to an earlier cycle of activity.     

A photometric study of the field around the candidate recoiling/binary black hole SDSS J092712.65+294344.0

We present a photometric far-ultraviolet (FUV) to K _s-band study of the field around quasar SDSS J092712.65+294344.0. The SDSS spectrum of this object shows various emission lines with two distinct redshifts, at   z = 0.699  and 0.712. Because of this peculiar spectroscopic feature, this source has been proposed as a candidate recoiling or binary black hole. A third alternative model involves two galaxies moving in the centre of a rich galaxy cluster. Here, we present a study addressing the possible presence of such a rich cluster of galaxies in the SDSS J092712.65+294344.0 field. We observed the  3.6 × 2.6  arcmin² field in the K _s band and matched the near-infrared data with the FUV and near-ultraviolet images in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer archive and the ugriz observations in the SDSS. From various colour–colour diagrams, we were able to classify the nature of 32 sources, only 6–11 of which have colours consistent with galaxies at   z ≈ 0.7  . We compare these numbers with the surface density of galaxies, stars and quasars and the expectations for typical galaxy clusters both at low and high redshift. Our study shows that the galaxy cluster scenario is in clear disagreement with the new observations.     

SDSS J120923.7+264047: a new massive galaxy cluster with a bright giant arc

Highly magnified lensed galaxies allow us to probe the morphological and spectroscopic properties of high-redshift stellar systems in great detail. However, such objects are rare, and there are only a handful of lensed galaxies that are bright enough for a high-resolution spectroscopic study with current instrumentation. We report the discovery of a new massive lensing cluster, SDSS J120923.7+264047, at z = 0.558. Present around the cluster core, at angular distances of up to ∼40 arcsec, are many arcs and arc candidates, presumably due to lensing of background galaxies by the cluster gravitational potential. One of the arcs, 21 arcsec long, has an r -band magnitude of 20, making it one of the brightest known lensed galaxies. We obtained a low-resolution spectrum of this galaxy, using the Keck-I telescope, and found it is at redshift of z = 1.018.     

The energy dependence of burst oscillations from the accreting millisecond pulsar XTE J1814−338

The nature of the asymmetry that gives rise to Type I X-ray burst oscillations on accreting neutron stars remains a matter of debate. Of particular interest is whether the burst oscillation mechanism differs between the bursting millisecond pulsars and the non-pulsing systems. One means to diagnose this is to study the energy dependence of the burst oscillations: here we present an analysis of oscillations from 28 bursts observed during the 2003 outburst of the accreting millisecond pulsar XTE J1814−338. We find that the fractional amplitude of the burst oscillations falls with energy, in contrast to the behaviour found by Muno et al. in the burst oscillations from a set of non-pulsing systems. The drop with energy mirrors that seen in the accretion-powered pulsations; in this respect XTE J1814−338 behaves like the other accreting millisecond pulsars. The burst oscillations show no evidence for either hard or soft lags, in contrast to the persistent pulsations, which show soft lags of up to 50 μs. The fall in amplitude with energy is inconsistent with current surface-mode and simple hotspot models of burst oscillations. We discuss improvements to the models and uncertainties in the physics that might resolve these issues.     

A substructure analysis of the A3558 cluster complex

The 'algorithm driven by the density estimate for the identification of clusters' ( DEDICA ) is applied to the A3558 cluster complex in order to find substructures. This complex, located at the centre of the Shapley Concentration supercluster, is a chain formed by the ACO clusters A3556, A3558 and A3562 and the two poor clusters SC 1327-312 and SC 1329-313. We find a large number of clumps, indicating that strong dynamical processes are active. In particular, it is necessary to use a fully three-dimensional sample (i.e. using the galaxy velocity as third coordinate) in order also to recover the clumps superimposed along the line of sight. Even though a large number of detected substructures was already found in a previous analysis, this method is more efficient and faster when compared with a wide battery of tests, and permits the direct estimate of the detection significance. Almost all subclusters previously detected by the wavelet analyses found in the literature are recognized by DEDICA . On the basis of the substructure analysis, we also briefly discuss the origin of the A3558 complex by comparing two hypotheses: (i) the structure is a cluster–cluster collision seen just after the first core–core encounter; or (ii) this complex is the result of a series of incoherent group–group and cluster–group mergings, focused in that region by the presence of the surrounding supercluster. We studied the fraction of blue galaxies in the detected substructures and found that the bluest groups reside between A3562 and A3558, i.e. in the expected position for the scenario of cluster–cluster collision.     

The dynamical state of RX J1347.5−1145 from a combined strong lensing and X-ray analysis

We perform a combined X-ray and strong lensing analysis of RX J1347.5−1145, one of the most luminous galaxy clusters at X-ray wavelengths. We show that evidence from strong lensing alone, based on published Very Large Telescope (VLT) and new Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) data, strongly argues in favour of a complex structure. The analysis takes into account arc positions, shapes and orientations, and is done thoroughly in the image plane. The cluster inner regions are well fitted by a bimodal mass distribution, with a total projected mass of   M _tot= (9.9 ± 0.3) × 10¹⁴ M_⊙  h ⁻¹  within a radius of 360 kpc  h ⁻¹ (1.5 arcmin). Such a complex structure could be a signature of a recent major merger as further supported by X-ray data. A temperature map of the cluster, based on deep Chandra observations, reveals a hot front located between the first main component and an X-ray emitting south-eastern subclump. The map also unveils a filament of cold gas in the innermost regions of the cluster, most probably a cooling wake caused by the motion of the cD inside the cool core region. A merger scenario in the plane of the sky between two dark matter subclumps is consistent with both our lensing and X-ray analyses, and can explain previous discrepancies with mass estimates based on the virial theorem.     

Radio properties of the Shapley Concentration – III. Merging clusters in the A3558 complex

We present the results of a 22-cm radio survey carried out with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) covering the A3558 complex, a chain formed by the merging ACO clusters A3556–A3558–A3562 and the two groups SC 1327−312 and SC 1323−313, located in the central region of the Shapley Concentration. The purpose of our survey is to study the effects of cluster mergers on the statistical properties of radio galaxies and to investigate the connection between mergers and the presence of radio haloes and relic sources.
We found that the radio source counts in the A3558 complex are consistent with the background source counts. The much higher optical density compared with the background is not reflected as a higher density of radio sources. Furthermore, we found that no correlation exists between the local density and the radio source power, and that steep-spectrum radio galaxies are not segregated in denser optical regions.
The radio luminosity function for elliptical and S0 galaxies is significantly lower than for cluster early-type galaxies and for those not selected to be in clusters at radio powers log  P _1.4≳22.5, implying that the probability of a galaxy becoming a radio source above this power limit is lower in the Shapley Concentration compared with any other environment. Possible explanations will be presented.
The detection of a head–tail source in the centre of A3562, coupled with careful inspection of the 20-cm NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) and of 36-cm MOST observations, allowed us to spot two extended sources in the region between A3562 and SC 1329−313, i.e. a candidate radio halo at the centre of A3562 and low brightness extended emission around a 14.96-mag Shapley galaxy. The relation between these two extended galaxies and the ongoing group merger in this region of the Shapley Concentration are discussed.     

A spectroscopic study of NGC 6251 and its companion galaxies

Measurements of the velocities of galaxies thought to be associated with the giant radio galaxy NGC 6251 confirm the presence of a poor cluster with a systemic redshift of and a line-of-sight velocity dispersion of _z =283(+109,52) km s¹. This suggests a cluster atmosphere temperature of T =0.7(+0.6,0.2) keV, which is not enough to confine the radio jet by gas pressure. The core of NGC 6251 shows strong emission lines of [O  iii ] and H +[N  ii ], but there is no evidence for line emission from the jet (detected in optical continuum by Keel).     

Radio properties of the Shapley Concentration – IV.The A3528 cluster complex

We report and discuss the results of a 22-cm radio survey carried out with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) covering the A3528 complex, a chain formed by the merging ACO clusters A3528–A3530–A3532 , located in the central region of the Shapley Concentration. Simultaneous 13-cm observations are also presented. Our final catalogue includes a total of 106 radio sources above the flux density limit of 0.8 mJy. By cross-correlation with optical and spectroscopic catalogues we found 32 optical counterparts, nine of them belonging to the A3528 complex.
We explored the effects of cluster mergers on the radio emission properties of radio galaxies by means of the radio luminosity function (RLF) and radio source counts. We found that the radio source counts are consistent with the background counts, as already found for the A3558 complex. The RLF for this complex is consistent, in both shape and normalization, with the general cluster luminosity function for early-type galaxies derived by Ledlow & Owen. This result is different from the one we obtained for the A3558 merging complex, the RLF of which is significantly lower than that derived by Ledlow & Owen.
We propose that the different stage of the merger is responsible for the different RLFs in the two cluster complexes in the core of the Shapley Concentration. The early stage of merger for the A3528 complex, proposed by many authors, may not yet have affected the radio properties of cluster galaxies, while in the more much advanced merger in the A3558 region we actually see the effects of this process on the radio emission.