Seeing the forest and the trees: A radio investigation of the ULIRG Mrk 273
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2022

Galaxy mergers have been observed to trigger nuclear activity by feeding gas to the central supermassive black hole. One such class of objects are Ultra Luminous InfraRed Galaxies (ULIRGs), which are mostly late stage major mergers of gas-rich galaxies. Recently, large-scale (100 kpc) radio continuum emission has been detected in a select number of ULIRGs, all of which also harbour powerful Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). This hints at the presence of large-scale radio emission being evidence for nuclear activity. Exploring the origin of this radio emission and its link to nuclear activity requires high sensitivity multi-frequency data. We present such an analysis of the ULIRG Mrk 273. Using the International LOFAR telescope (ILT), we detected spectacular large-scale arcs in this system. This detection includes, for the first time, a giant 190 kpc arc in the north. We propose these arcs are fuelled by a low power radio AGN triggered by the merger. We also identified a bright 45 kpc radio ridge, which is likely related to the ionised gas nebula in that region. We combined this with high sensitivity data from APERture Tile In Focus (Apertif) and archival data from the Very Large Array (VLA) to explore the spectral properties. The ILT simultaneously allowed us to probe the nucleus at a resolution of 0.3, where we detected three components, and, for the first time, diffuse emission around these components. Combining this with archival high frequency VLA images of the nucleus allowed us to detect absorption in one component, and a steep spectrum radio AGN in another. We then extrapolate from this case study to the importance of investigating the presence of radio emission in more ULIRGs and what it can tell us about the link between mergers and the presence of radio activity.

Radio continuum: galaxies

Galaxies: individual: Mrk 273

Galaxies: active

Galaxies: interactions

Techniques: high angular resolution

Galaxies: jets

Författare

P. Kukreti

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

R. Morganti

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

M. Bondi

Istituto di Radioastronomia

T. Oosterloo

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

C. Tadhunter

University of Sheffield

L. Morabito

Durham University

E. A.K. Adams

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

B. Adebahr

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

W.J.G. de Blok

University of Cape Town

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

F. De Gasperin

Istituto di Radioastronomia

Universität Hamburg

A. Drabent

Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg

K. M. Hess

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía (IAA)

Marianna Ivashina

Chalmers, Elektroteknik, Kommunikation, Antenner och Optiska Nätverk

A. M. Kutkin

Russian Academy of Sciences

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

Mika

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

L. C. Oostrum

Netherlands eScience Center

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

T. W. Shimwell

Universiteit Leiden

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

J. M. van der Hulst

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

J. van Leeuwen

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

R. van Weeren

Universiteit Leiden

D. Vohl

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

J. Ziemke

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)

Universitetet i Oslo

Astronomy and Astrophysics

0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)

Vol. 664 A25

Ämneskategorier

Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi

Bioinformatik (beräkningsbiologi)

Signalbehandling

DOI

10.1051/0004-6361/202243174

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2022-08-19