A radio ridge connecting two galaxy clusters in a filament of the cosmic web
Journal article, 2019
Galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally bound structures in the Universe. They grow by accreting smaller structures in a merging process that produces shocks and turbulence in the intracluster gas. We observed a ridge of radio emission connecting the merging galaxy clusters Abell 0399 and Abell 0401 with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope network at 140 megahertz. This emission requires a population of relativistic electrons and a magnetic field located in a filament between the two galaxy clusters. We performed simulations to show that a volume-filling distribution of weak shocks may reaccelerate a preexisting population of relativistic particles, producing emission at radio wavelengths that illuminates the magnetic ridge.
magnetic field
extraterrestrial matter
Diffuse radio
Author
F. Govoni
Ist Nazl Astrofis
E. Orru
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
A. Bonafede
University of Bologna
Ist Nazl Astrofis
M. Iacobelli
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
R. Paladino
Ist Nazl Astrofis
F. Vazza
University of Bologna
Ist Nazl Astrofis
University of Hamburg
M. Murgia
Ist Nazl Astrofis
V. Vacca
Ist Nazl Astrofis
G. Giovannini
Ist Nazl Astrofis
University of Bologna
L. Feretti
Ist Nazl Astrofis
F. Loi
University of Bologna
Ist Nazl Astrofis
G. Bernardi
Square Kilometre Array, South Africa
Rhodes University
Ist Nazl Astrofis
C. Ferrari
University of Côte d'Azur
R. F. Pizzo
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
C. Gheller
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)
S. Manti
Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
M. Bruggen
University of Hamburg
G. Brunetti
Ist Nazl Astrofis
R. Cassano
Ist Nazl Astrofis
F. de Gasperin
Leiden University
T. A. Ensslin
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)
Max Planck Society
M. Hoeft
Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg
Cathy Horellou
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
H. Junklewitz
Argelander-Institut für Astronomie
H. J. A. Rottgering
Leiden University
A. M. M. Scaife
University of Manchester
T. W. Shimwell
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
Leiden University
R. J. van Weeren
Leiden University
M. Wise
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
Science
0036-8075 (ISSN) 1095-9203 (eISSN)
Vol. 364 6444 981-984Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
DOI
10.1126/science.aat7500
PubMed
31171695