Radio Galaxy Zoo Talk

messy emission from overlapping IR sources - galactic merger?

  • WizardHowl by WizardHowl

    There appear to be a handful of overlapping IR sources so it's hard to say precisely where this large #messy radio emission originates. If the IR sources include at least one pair of interacting galaxies, might this be what is causing the BH eruption to be so chaotic?

    Posted

  • akapinska by akapinska scientist

    I can't tell if this is what might be happening there, but in general it is possible that two interacting galaxies, of which one is a radio galaxy, can create quite a chaotic radio signal. Because of the interaction, the orientation of the accretion disk of black hole may easily change and so the radio lobes (which normally would be created in a symmetrical way on each side of the galaxy) will be much more messy and "all over the place".

    In this particular source, the radio signal is fairly diffuse what may mean it is old. To judge whether the interacting galaxy scenario is possible here at all we would need to inspect in detail the infrared images. Sadly, the radio image will not answer that question.

    Posted