Radio Galaxy Zoo Talk

Two seperate sources?

  • rtconr by rtconr

    I was hoping to point out that there appears to be a second source in the upper lobe, on the south east edge that I imagine is either weaker and in front of, or more focused and behind a large and powerful galaxy?

    Posted

  • 42jkb by 42jkb scientist, admin in response to rtconr's comment.

    Good catch! This could very well be.

    Posted

  • MyOtherHead by MyOtherHead

    I've classified this image to have 3 sources:

    1. Top left: compact source, characterised by a darkening in the IR image.

    2. Middle source - compact

    3. Bottom source, near image centre - not sure about this one.

    I stand to be corrected because I'm just starting out.

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  • JeanTate by JeanTate in response to MyOtherHead's comment.

    This is, I think, a pretty complicated set of radio emissions! 😃

    I think the bright compact source - the one which coincides with a bright IR source - is the host, the galaxy with the super-massive black hole in its nucleus. The two relatively diffuse sets of radio emissions (to the NE and SW of the host) are the lobes.

    What's hard to determine is whether the apparent compact source in the NE lobe is a separate, unrelated source. Myself, I think it's a hotspot, and has a counterpart in the SW lobe ... however this SW hotspot is not as compact, or as strong as the NE one (so maybe this isn't such a good description).

    A mystery - for me - is whether the hotspots have moved (once they were further N/S), or whether the diffuse emission is caused by different physical processes.

    Hope this helps, and happy hunting!

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  • DocR by DocR scientist

    I agree with Jean Tate. This looks pretty straightforward to me. It's likely a triple with IR host on central component, two lobes, and the northern one has an offset hotspot. Google the classic radio galaxy Cygnus A and you'll see offset hot spot as well.

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