Collimated synchrotron threads linking the radio lobes of ESO 137-006

Ramatsoku, Mpati; Murgia, M.; Vacca, V.; Serra, P.; Makhathini, Sphesihle; Govoni, F.; Smirnov, Oleg M.; Andati, L.A.L.; De Blok, E.; Józsa, G.I.G.; Kamphuis, P.; Kleiner, D.; Maccagni, F.M.; Molnár, D.C.; Ramaila, A.J.T.; Thorat, Kshitij; White, Sarah V.

Collimated synchrotron threads linking the radio lobes of ESO 137-006

Ramatsoku, Mpati; Murgia, M.; Vacca, V.; Serra, P.; Makhathini, Sphesihle; Govoni, F.; Smirnov, Oleg M.; Andati, L.A.L.; De Blok, E.; Józsa, G.I.G.; Kamphuis, P.; Kleiner, D.; Maccagni, F.M.; Molnár, D.C.; Ramaila, A.J.T.; Thorat, Kshitij; White, Sarah V.

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80102

Date: 2020-04

Abstract:

We present MeerKAT 1000 MHz and 1400 MHz observations of a bright radio galaxy in the southern hemisphere, ESO 137-006. The galaxy lies at the centre of the massive and merging Norma galaxy cluster. The MeerKAT continuum images (rms ∼0.02 mJy beam−1 at ∼1000 resolution) reveal new features that have never been seen in a radio galaxy before: collimated synchrotron threads of yet unknown origin, which link the extended and bent radio lobes of ESO 137-006. The most prominent of these threads stretches in projection for about 80 kpc and is about 1 kpc in width. The radio spectrum of the threads is steep, with a spectral index of up to α ' 2 between 1000 and 1400 MHz.

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