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The environments of radio-loud AGN from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)

The environments of radio-loud AGN from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)
The environments of radio-loud AGN from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)

An understanding of the relationship between radio-loud active galaxies and their large-scale environments is essential for realistic modelling of radio-galaxy evolution and environmental impact, for understanding AGN triggering and life cycles, and for calibrating galaxy feedback in cosmological models. We use the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) Data Release 1 catalogues to investigate this relationship. We cross-matched a sample of 8745 radio-loud AGN with 0.08" < " z" < " 0.4, selected from LoTSS, with two Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) cluster catalogues, and find that only 10 percent of LoTSS AGN in this redshift range have a high-probability association, so that the majority of low-redshift AGN (including a substantial fraction of the most radio-luminous objects) must inhabit haloes with M" < " 10 14 M . We find that the probability of a cluster association, and the richness of the associated cluster, is correlated with AGN radio luminosity, and we also find that, for the cluster population, the number of associated AGN and the radio luminosity of the brightest associated AGN is richness-dependent. We demonstrate that these relations are not driven solely by host-galaxy stellar mass, supporting models in which large-scale environment is influential in driving AGN jet activity in the local Universe. At the lowest radio luminosities we find that the minority of objects with a cluster association are located at larger mean cluster-centre distances than more luminous AGN, an effect that appears to be driven primarily by host-galaxy mass. Finally, we also find that FRI radio galaxies inhabit systematically richer environments than FRIIs, consistent with previous work. The work presented here demonstrates the potential of LoTSS for AGN environmental studies. In future, the full northern-sky LoTSS catalogue, together with the use of deeper optical/IR imaging data and spectroscopic follow-up with WEAVE-LOFAR, will provide opportunities to extend this type of work to much larger samples and higher redshifts.

Galaxies: active, Galaxies: clusters: general, Galaxies: jets
0004-6361
Croston, J. H.
b10aa3fb-620e-4ec2-93e5-8594748d4822
Hardcastle, M. J.
43e73b1a-9ff1-479c-b9d2-5a730f1bdc8e
Mingo, B.
72d66265-6364-4146-b6fb-992139f4bc98
Best, P. N.
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Sabater, J.
88a62e81-0be3-418e-8ca0-3ebbced36f36
Shimwell, T. M.
896ff280-7c37-4843-be8a-03e9c97738a6
Williams, W. L.
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Duncan, K. J.
20bdfcb5-d425-44ad-9583-ba3dc4e82a0d
Röttgering, H. J.A.
071a6f5d-9a84-41f9-8ede-ba2764d76a19
Brienza, M.
5fcf6836-b2ac-414c-8f0f-d4aa4a7a5a20
Gürkan, G.
4f19bd2d-eec8-418d-b700-0546a474d2fc
Ineson, J.
2786e312-601a-4387-bb3d-deda0a05219f
Miley, G. K.
0571b63f-4bcd-4194-9d80-5e3eb942eede
Morabito, L. M.
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O'Sullivan, S. P.
0f2b539e-2c50-4381-9d6e-4429a427880c
Prandoni, I.
f564a4bb-0cb3-49a3-868e-10b26d611311
Croston, J. H.
b10aa3fb-620e-4ec2-93e5-8594748d4822
Hardcastle, M. J.
43e73b1a-9ff1-479c-b9d2-5a730f1bdc8e
Mingo, B.
72d66265-6364-4146-b6fb-992139f4bc98
Best, P. N.
3e9df6e3-f10d-4d61-adac-2a43c9374fb2
Sabater, J.
88a62e81-0be3-418e-8ca0-3ebbced36f36
Shimwell, T. M.
896ff280-7c37-4843-be8a-03e9c97738a6
Williams, W. L.
1476e168-cee4-4adb-a9e8-1902e6478c18
Duncan, K. J.
20bdfcb5-d425-44ad-9583-ba3dc4e82a0d
Röttgering, H. J.A.
071a6f5d-9a84-41f9-8ede-ba2764d76a19
Brienza, M.
5fcf6836-b2ac-414c-8f0f-d4aa4a7a5a20
Gürkan, G.
4f19bd2d-eec8-418d-b700-0546a474d2fc
Ineson, J.
2786e312-601a-4387-bb3d-deda0a05219f
Miley, G. K.
0571b63f-4bcd-4194-9d80-5e3eb942eede
Morabito, L. M.
01f47b7d-d091-43e4-b009-f60785323209
O'Sullivan, S. P.
0f2b539e-2c50-4381-9d6e-4429a427880c
Prandoni, I.
f564a4bb-0cb3-49a3-868e-10b26d611311

Croston, J. H., Hardcastle, M. J., Mingo, B., Best, P. N., Sabater, J., Shimwell, T. M., Williams, W. L., Duncan, K. J., Röttgering, H. J.A., Brienza, M., Gürkan, G., Ineson, J., Miley, G. K., Morabito, L. M., O'Sullivan, S. P. and Prandoni, I. (2019) The environments of radio-loud AGN from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). Astronomy and Astrophysics, 622, [A10]. (doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834019).

Record type: Review

Abstract

An understanding of the relationship between radio-loud active galaxies and their large-scale environments is essential for realistic modelling of radio-galaxy evolution and environmental impact, for understanding AGN triggering and life cycles, and for calibrating galaxy feedback in cosmological models. We use the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) Data Release 1 catalogues to investigate this relationship. We cross-matched a sample of 8745 radio-loud AGN with 0.08" < " z" < " 0.4, selected from LoTSS, with two Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) cluster catalogues, and find that only 10 percent of LoTSS AGN in this redshift range have a high-probability association, so that the majority of low-redshift AGN (including a substantial fraction of the most radio-luminous objects) must inhabit haloes with M" < " 10 14 M . We find that the probability of a cluster association, and the richness of the associated cluster, is correlated with AGN radio luminosity, and we also find that, for the cluster population, the number of associated AGN and the radio luminosity of the brightest associated AGN is richness-dependent. We demonstrate that these relations are not driven solely by host-galaxy stellar mass, supporting models in which large-scale environment is influential in driving AGN jet activity in the local Universe. At the lowest radio luminosities we find that the minority of objects with a cluster association are located at larger mean cluster-centre distances than more luminous AGN, an effect that appears to be driven primarily by host-galaxy mass. Finally, we also find that FRI radio galaxies inhabit systematically richer environments than FRIIs, consistent with previous work. The work presented here demonstrates the potential of LoTSS for AGN environmental studies. In future, the full northern-sky LoTSS catalogue, together with the use of deeper optical/IR imaging data and spectroscopic follow-up with WEAVE-LOFAR, will provide opportunities to extend this type of work to much larger samples and higher redshifts.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 10 October 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 19 February 2019
Keywords: Galaxies: active, Galaxies: clusters: general, Galaxies: jets

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 429288
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/429288
ISSN: 0004-6361
PURE UUID: 3c6af9ce-d058-4827-aeda-93624cc20342

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Date deposited: 26 Mar 2019 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 12:22

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Contributors

Author: J. H. Croston
Author: M. J. Hardcastle
Author: B. Mingo
Author: P. N. Best
Author: J. Sabater
Author: T. M. Shimwell
Author: W. L. Williams
Author: K. J. Duncan
Author: H. J.A. Röttgering
Author: M. Brienza
Author: G. Gürkan
Author: J. Ineson
Author: G. K. Miley
Author: L. M. Morabito
Author: S. P. O'Sullivan
Author: I. Prandoni

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