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X-ray emission around the z = 4.1 radio galaxy TN J1338-1942 and the potential role of far-infrared photons in AGN feedback

Smail, I.; Blundell, K.M.

X-ray emission around the z = 4.1 radio galaxy TN J1338-1942 and the potential role of far-infrared photons in AGN feedback Thumbnail


Authors

K.M. Blundell



Abstract

We report the discovery in an 80-ks observation of spatially extended X-ray emission around the high-redshift radio galaxy TN J1388−1942 (z = 4.11) with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The X-ray emission extends over a ∼30-kpc diameter region and although it is less extended than the GHz-radio lobes, it is roughly aligned with them. We suggest that the X-ray emission arises from inverse-Compton (IC) scattering of photons by relativistic electrons around the radio galaxy. At z = 4.11, this is the highest redshift detection of IC emission around a radio galaxy. We investigate the hypothesis that in this compact source, the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which is ∼700× more intense than at z ∼ 0 is nonetheless not the relevant seed photon field for the bulk of the IC emission. Instead, we find a tentative correlation between the IC emission and far-infrared luminosities of compact, far-infrared luminous high-redshift radio galaxies (those with lobe lengths of ≲100 kpc). Based on these results, we suggest that in the earliest phases of the evolution of radio-loud active galactic nuclei at very high redshift, the far-infrared photons from the co-eval dusty starbursts occurring within these systems may make a significant contribution to their IC X-ray emission and so contribute to the feedback in these massive high-redshift galaxies.

Citation

Smail, I., & Blundell, K. (2013). X-ray emission around the z = 4.1 radio galaxy TN J1338-1942 and the potential role of far-infrared photons in AGN feedback. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 434(4), 3246-3251. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt1240

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Oct 1, 2013
Deposit Date Apr 15, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 434
Issue 4
Pages 3246-3251
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt1240
Keywords Galaxies, Evolution galaxies, High-redshift galaxies, TN J1338−1942.

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Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2014 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





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