SIMBAD references

2009ApJ...707..114F - Astrophys. J., 707, 114-125 (2009/December-2)

Faraday rotation structure on kiloparsec scales in the radio lobes of Centaurus A.

FEAIN I.J., EKERS R.D., MURPHY T., GAENSLER B.M., MacQUART J.-P., NORRIS R.P., CORNWELL T.J., JOHNSTON-HOLLITT M., OTT J. and MIDDELBERG E.

Abstract (from CDS):

We present the results of an Australia Telescope Compact Array 1.4 GHz spectropolarimetric aperture synthesis survey of 34 deg2 centered on Centaurus A-NGC 5128. A catalog of 1005 extragalactic compact radio sources in the field to a continuum flux density of 3 mJy/beam is provided along with a table of Faraday rotation measures (RMs) and linear polarized intensities for the 28% of sources with high signal to noise in linear polarization. We use the ensemble of 281 background polarized sources as line-of-sight probes of the structure of the giant radio lobes of Centaurus A. This is the first time such a method has been applied to radio galaxy lobes and we explain how it differs from the conventional methods that are often complicated by depth and beam depolarization effects. Assuming a magnetic field strength in the lobes of 1.3 B1µG, where B1= 1 is implied by equipartition between magnetic fields and relativistic particles, the upper limit we derive on the maximum possible difference between the average RM of 121 sources behind Centaurus A and the average RM of the 160 sources along sightlines outside Centaurus A implies an upper limit on the volume-averaged thermal plasma density in the giant radio lobes of e> < 5x10–5 B–1 1/cm3. We use an RM structure function analysis and report the detection of a turbulent RM signal, with rms σRM= 17 rad/m2 and scale size 0°.3, associated with the southern giant lobe. We cannot verify whether this signal arises from turbulent structure throughout the lobe or only in a thin skin (or sheath) around the edge, although we favor the latter. The RM signal is modeled as possibly arising from a thin skin with a thermal plasma density equivalent to the Centaurus intragroup medium density and a coherent magnetic field that reverses its sign on a spatial scale of 20 kpc. For a thermal density of n110–3/cm3, the skin magnetic field strength is 0.8 n–11µG.

Abstract Copyright: ∼

Journal keyword(s): galaxies: individual (Centaurus A, NGC 5128) - techniques: interferometric - techniques: polarimetric

VizieR on-line data: <Available at CDS (J/ApJ/707/114): table2.dat table3.dat>

Nomenclature: Tables 2-3: [FEM2009] JHHMMSS+DDMMSS N=1005+281.

Status at CDS : All or part of tables of objects will not be ingested in SIMBAD.

Simbad objects: 9

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