The X-shaped Radio Galaxy J0725+5835 is Associated with an AGN Pair
Journal article, 2022

X-shaped radio galaxies (XRGs) are those that exhibit two pairs of unaligned radio lobes (main radio lobes and wings). One of the promising models for the peculiar morphology is jet reorientation. To clarify this, we conducted a 5 GHz observation with the European VLBI Network (EVN) of XRG J0725+5835, which resembles the archetypal binary active galactic nuclei (AGNs) 0402+379 in radio morphology, but it is larger in angular size. In our observation, two milliarcsecond-scale radio components with nonthermal radio emission are detected. Each of them coincides with an optical counterpart with similar photometric redshift and (optical and infrared) magnitude, corresponding to dual active nuclei. Furthermore, with the improved Very Large Array (VLA) images, we find a bridge between the two radio cores and a jet bending in the region surrounding the companion galaxy. This further supports the interplay between the main and companion galaxies. In addition, we also report the discovery of an arcsecond-scale jet in the companion. Given the projected separation of similar to 100 kpc between the main and companion galaxies, XRG J0725+5835 is likely associated with a dual jetted-AGN system. In both EVN and VLA observations, we find signatures that the jet is changing its direction, which is likely responsible for the X-shaped morphology. For the origin of jet reorientation, several scenarios are discussed.

Author

Xiaolong Yang

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Beijing University of Technology

Jialu Ji

University of Strathclyde

Shanghai Normal University

Ravi Joshi

Indian Institute of Astrophysics

Beijing University of Technology

Jun Yang

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory

Tao An

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Ran Wang

Beijing University of Technology

Luis C. Ho

Beijing University of Technology

David H. Roberts

Brandeis University

Lakshmi Saripalli

Raman Research Institute

Astrophysical Journal

0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)

Vol. 933 1 98

Subject Categories

Subatomic Physics

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Other Civil Engineering

DOI

10.3847/1538-4357/ac71aa

More information

Latest update

9/29/2022