(ORDO NEWS) — Thanks to the capabilities of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, an international team of astronomers has been able to conduct deep visual observations of the high redshift radio galaxy known as 4C 63.20. The observation campaign has revealed expanded X-rays from this source. This is reported in an article posted on July 20th on arXiv.
Radio galaxies emit huge amounts of radio waves from their central cores. Black holes in the centers of these galaxies accumulate gas and dust, creating high-energy jets visible on radio waves that accelerate electrically charged particles to high speeds.
High redshift radio galaxies (HzRG), which are among the most massive galaxies, are known to contain large amounts of dust and gas. HzRGs are often located at the center of galaxy clusters and protoclusters. They can provide insight into the formation and evolution of large-scale structures in the universe.
At a redshift of approximately 4.261, 4C 63.20 is one of the few known HzRGs. It is also the only HzRG to have an associated statistically significant X-ray counterpart with a redshift above 4.0.
Recently, a group of astronomers led by Keith Napier of the University of Michigan investigated this X-ray source using the Advanced Spectrometer (ACIS), an X-ray scanner aboard the Chandra Telescope.
Observations have shown that the X-ray analogue of 4C 63.20 is made from a compact core with extended radiation from the south-east to the north-west. This expanded X-ray radiation makes up about 30 percent of the flux. It turned out to be compatible with 4C 63.20 radio points observed at 5.0 GHz.
Astronomers noted that despite the observed separation and position of the centroids of the two X-ray sources, a diffuse scenario is observed. This suggests that the option that they are two compact hot spots cannot be ruled out at the moment.
While trying to reproduce the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the 4C 63.20 system, the researchers found that it could be described by a jet model, in which most of the radio flux comes from synchrotron radiation from hotspots. When it comes to X-rays, it can be produced by Compton Backscattering (IC) scattering by disks and photons from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB).
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