Radio Galaxy Zoo Talk

headtail from interacting galaxies?

  • WizardHowl by WizardHowl

    This looks like the radio emission from the central IR source is being 'blown' away in a #headtail by the other, similarly bright and -sized IR sources below it. If these are an interacting group of galaxies, this might explain the behaviour of the radio emission and, from their size, the IR sources are also going to be nearby. This would then be an interesting example of which to ask the question: why is only one of these a radio galaxy?

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  • DocR by DocR scientist

    You've asked the million dollar (or whatever denomination you use!) question. The conventional wisdom is that all (giant, elliptical) galaxies have supermassive black holes in their centers. However, only when they are being "fed" by infalling material will they emit jets and radio radiation. The radio emission will last only about 100 million years, while the galaxy may have been around for 10 billion years, so the radio phenomenon is quite short. It is not clear whether this picture will hold up. That's part of the goal behind RGZ! Keep hunting!

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