With the aim of exploring the properties of the class of FR 0 radio galaxies, we selected a sample of 108 compact radio sources, called FR0CAT, by combining observations from the NVSS, FIRST, and ...SDSS surveys. We included in the catalog sources with redshift ≤0.05, with a radio size ≲5 kpc, and with an optical spectrum characteristic of low-excitation galaxies. Their radio luminosities at 1.4 GHz are in the range 1038 ≲ νL1.4 ≲ 1040 erg s-1. The FR0CAT hosts are mostly (86%) luminous (−21 ≳ Mr ≳ −23) red early-type galaxies with black hole masses 108 ≲ MBH ≲ 109M⊙. These properties are similar to those seen for the hosts of FR I radio galaxies, but they are on average a factor ~1.6 less massive. The number density of FR0CAT sources is ~5 times higher than that of FR Is, and thus they represent the dominant population of radio sources in the local Universe. Different scenarios are considered to account for the smaller sizes and larger abundance of FR 0s with respect to FR Is. An age-size scenario that considers FR 0s as young radio galaxies that will all eventually evolve into extended radio sources cannot be reconciled with the large space density of FR 0s. However, the radio activity recurrence, with the duration of the active phase covering a wide range of values and with short active periods strongly favored with respect to longer ones, might account for their large density number. Alternatively, the jet properties of FR 0s might be intrinsically different from those of the FR Is, the former class having lower bulk Lorentz factors, possibly due to lower black hole spins. Our study indicates that FR 0s and FR I/IIs can be interpreted as two extremes of a continuous population of radio sources that is characterized by a broad distribution of sizes and luminosities of their extended radio emission, but shares a single class of host galaxies.
We built a catalog of 219 FR I radio galaxies (FR Is), called FRICAT, selected from a published sample and obtained by combining observations from the NVSS, FIRST, and SDSS surveys. We included in ...the catalog the sources with an edge-darkened radio morphology, redshift ≤ 0.15, and extending (at the sensitivity of the FIRST images) to a radius r larger than 30 kpc from the center of the host. We also selected an additional sample (sFRICAT) of 14 smaller (10 < r < 30 kpc) FR Is, limiting to z < 0.05. The hosts of the FRICAT sources are all luminous (−21 ≳ Mr ≳ −24), red early-type galaxies with black hole masses in the range 108 ≲ MBH ≲ 3 × 109M⊙; the spectroscopic classification based on the optical emission line ratios indicates that they are all low excitation galaxies. Sources in the FRICAT are then indistinguishable from the FR Is belonging to the Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources (3C) on the basis of their optical properties. Conversely, while the 3C-FR Is show a strong positive trend between radio and O III emission line luminosity, these two quantities are unrelated in the FRICAT sources; at a given line luminosity, they show radio luminosities spanning about two orders of magnitude and extending to much lower ratios between radio and line power than 3C-FR Is. Our main conclusion is that the 3C-FR Is just represent the tip of the iceberg of a much larger and diverse population of FR Is.
Aims. We built a catalog of 122 FR II radio galaxies, called FRIICAT, selected from a published sample obtained by combining observations from the NVSS, FIRST, and SDSS surveys. The catalog includes ...sources with redshift ≤ 0.15, an edge-brightened radio morphology, and those with at least one of the emission peaks located at radius r larger than 30 kpc from the center of the host. Methods. The radio luminosity at 1.4 GHz of the FRIICAT sources covers the range L1.4 ~ 1039.5−1042.5erg s-1. The FRIICAT catalog has 90% of low and 10% of high excitation galaxies (LEGs and HEGs), respectively. The properties of these two classes are significantly different. The FRIICAT LEGs are mostly luminous (−20 ≳ Mr ≳ −24), red early-type galaxies with black hole masses in the range 108 ≲ MBH ≲ 109M⊙; they are essentially indistinguishable from the FR Is belonging to the FRICAT. The HEG FR IIs are associated with optically bluer and mid-IR redder hosts than the LEG FR IIs and to galaxies and black holes that are smaller, on average, by a factor ~2. Results. FR IIs have a factor ~3 higher average radio luminosity than FR Is. Nonetheless, most (~ 90%) of the selected FR IIs have a radio power that is lower, by as much as a factor of ~100, than the transition value between FR Is and FR IIs found in the 3C sample. The correspondence between the morphological classification of FR I and FR II and the separation in radio power disappears when including sources selected at low radio flux thresholds, which is in line with previous results. In conclusion, a radio source produced by a low power jet can be edge brightened or edge darkened, and the outcome is not related to differences in the optical properties of the host galaxy.
We analyze the properties of the broad line region (BLR) in low luminosity AGN by using HST/STIS spectra. We consider a sample of 24 nearby galaxies in which the presence of a BLR has been reported ...from their Palomar ground-based spectra. Following a widely used strategy, we used the S II doublet to subtract the contribution of the narrow emission lines to the Hα+N II complex and to isolate the BLR emission. Significant residuals that suggest a BLR, are present. However, the results change substantially when the O I doublet is used. Furthermore, the spectra are also reproduced well by just including a wing in the narrow Hα and N II lines, thus not requiring the presence of a BLR. We conclude that the complex structure of the narrow line region (NLR) is not captured with this approach and that it does not lead to general robust constraints on the properties of the BLR in these low-luminosity AGN. Nonetheless, the existence of a BLR is firmly established in 10 objects, 5 Seyferts, and 5 LINERs. However, the measured BLR fluxes and widths in the 5 LINERs differ substantially with respect to the ground-based data. The BLR sizes in LINERs, which are estimated by using the virial formula from the line widths and the black hole mass, are clustered between ~500 and 2000 Schwarzschild radii (i.e., ~5−100 light days). These values are ~1 order of magnitude greater than the extrapolation to low luminosities of the relation between the BLR radius and AGN luminosity observed in more powerful active nuclei. We found BLR in objects with Eddington ratios as low as Lbol/LEdd ~ 10-5, with the faintest BLR having a luminosity of ~1038erg s-1. This contrasts with theoretical models that predict the BLR disappearance at low luminosity. We ascribe the larger BLR radius to the lower accretion rate in LINERs when compared to the Seyfert, which causes the formation of an inner region dominated by an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF). The estimated BLR sizes in LINERs are comparable to the radius where the transition between the ADAF and the standard thin disk occurs due to disk evaporation. We suggest that BLR clouds cannot coexist with the hot inner region and that they only form in the correspondence with a thin accretion disk.
We explore the properties of the large-scale environment of the sources in the Faranoff-Riley class 0 catalog (FR0
CAT
). This sample includes 104 compact radio sources that are associated with ...nearby (
z
< 0.05) early-type galaxies. Using various estimators, we find that FR 0s are located in regions with higher than the average number of galaxies. The average galaxies density around FR 0s is a factor two lower with respect to FR I radio galaxies. This latter difference is driven by the large fraction (63%) of FR 0s that are located in groups formed by fewer than 15 galaxies. FR Is rarely (17%) inhabit an environment like this. In addition to the lack of substantial extended radio emission that defines the FR 0 class, this is the first significant difference between the properties of these two populations of low-power radio galaxies. We interpret the differences in environment between FR 0s and FR Is as due to an evolutionary link between local galaxies density, black hole spin, jet power, and extended radio emission.
Context. A significant fraction of extended radio sources presents a peculiar X-shaped radio morphology: in addition to the classical double lobed structure, radio emission is also observed along a ...second axis of symmetry in the form of diffuse wings or tails. In a previous investigation we showed the existence of a connection between the radio morphology and the properties of the host galaxies. Motivated by this connection we performed two-dimensional numerical simulations showing that X-shaped radio sources may naturally form as a jet propagates along the major axis a highly elliptical density distribution, because of the fast expansion of the cocoon along the minor axis of the distribution. Aims. We intend to extend our analysis by performing three-dimensional numerical simulations and investigating the role of different parameters in determining the formation of the X-shaped morphology. Methods. The problem is addressed by numerical means, carrying out three-dimensional relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of bidirectional jets propagating in a triaxial density distribution. Results. We show that only jets with power ≲ 1044 erg s-1 can give origin to an X-shaped morphology and that a misalignment of 30° between the jet axis and the major axis of the density distribution is still favourable to the formation of this kind of morphology. In addition we compute synthetic radio emission maps and polarization maps. Conclusions. In our scenario for the formation of X-shaped radio sources only low power FRII can give origin to such kind of morphology. Our synthetic emission maps show that the different observed morphologies of X-shaped sources can be the result of similar structures viewed under different perspectives.
We performed three-dimensional numerical simulations of magnetized relativistic jets propagating in a uniform density environment in order to study the effect of the entrainment and the consequent ...deceleration, extending a previous work in which magnetic effects were not present. As in previous papers, our aim is to understand the connection between the jet properties and the resulting Fanaroff-Riley classification. We considered jets with different low densities, and therefore low power, and different magnetizations. We find that lower magnetization jets effectively decelerate to sub-relativistic velocities and may then result in an FR I morphology on larger scales. Conversely, in the higher magnetization cases, the entrainment and consequent deceleration are substantially reduced.
In a previous paper we showed that the radio sources selected by combining large area radio and optical surveys, have a strong deficit of radio emission with respect to 3CR radio-galaxies matched in ...line emission luminosity. We argued that the prevalence of sources with luminous extended radio structures in high flux-limited samples is due to a selection bias. Sources with low radio power form the bulk of the radio-loud AGN population but are still virtually unexplored. We here analyze their photometric and spectroscopic properties. From the point of view of their emission lines, the majority of the sample are Low Excitation Galaxies (LEG), similar to the 3CR objects at the same level of line luminosity. The hosts of the LEG are red, massive (10.5 $\la$ log $M_*$/$M_{\odot}$ $\la$ 12) Early-Type Galaxies (ETG) with large black hole masses (7.7 $\la$ log MBH/$M_{\odot}$ $\la$ 9), statistically indistinguishable from the hosts of low redshift 3CR/LEG sources. No genuine radio-loud LEG could be found associated with black holes with a mass substantially smaller than 108 $M_{\odot}$ or with a late type host. The fraction of galaxies with signs of star formation (~ 5%) is similar to what is found in both the quiescent ETG and 3CR/LEG hosts. We conclude that the deficit in radio emission cannot be ascribed to differences in the properties of their hosts. We argue that instead this could be due to a temporal evolution of the radio luminosity. A minority (~10%) of the sample show rather different properties; these are associated with low black hole masses, with spiral galaxies, or with a high excitation spectrum. In general these outliers are the result of the contamination from Seyfert galaxies and from those where the radio emission is powered by star formation. For the objects with high excitation spectra there is no clear discontinuity in either the host or nuclear properties because they include radio-quiet as well as radio-loud AGN.
In a previous paper, we proposed a new method to select low-power BL Lacs (LPBLs) based on mid-infrared emission and flux contrast through the Ca II spectral break; that study led to the selection of ...a complete sample formed by 34 LPBLs with 0.05 <z ≤ 0.15 and radio luminosities spanning the range log Lr = 39.2–41.5 erg s-1. We now assemble the broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these sources to investigate their nature and compare them with brighter BL Lacs. We find that the ratios between the X-ray and radio luminosities range from ~20 to ~30 000 and that the synchrotron peak frequencies span a wide energy interval, from log νpeak ~ 13.5 to ~20 Hz. This indicates a broad variety of SED shapes and a mixture of BL Lac flavors. Indeed, although the majority of our LPBLs are high-energy peaked BL Lacs (HBLs), we find that a quarter of them are low-energy peaked BL Lacs (LBLs), despite the fact that the sample is biased against the selection of LBLs. The analysis of the median LPBL SED confirms disagreement with the blazar sequence at low radio luminosities. Furthermore, if we limit the sample to the LBLs subsample, we find that their median SED shape is essentially indistinguishable from that of the most luminous BL Lacs. We conclude that the observed radio power is not the main driving parameter of the multiwavelength properties of BL Lacs.
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