Nuclear regions as seen with LOFAR international baselines: A high-resolution study of the recurrent activity

Abstract

Radio galaxies dominate the radio sky and are essential to the galaxy evolution puzzle. High-resolution studies of statistical samples of radio galaxies are expected to shed light on the triggering mechanisms of the AGN, alternating between the phases of activity and quiescence. In this work, we focus on the sub-arcsec radio structures in the central regions of the 35 radio galaxies over 6.6 $deg^2$ of the Lockman Hole region. These sources were previously classified as active, remnant, and candidate restarted radio galaxies using 150 MHz LOFAR observations. We examine the morphologies and study the spectral properties of their central regions to explore their evolutionary stages and revise the criteria used to select the initial sample. We use the newly available LOFAR 150 MHz image obtained using international baselines, achieving 0.38'' x 0.30'' resolution, making this the first systematic study of the nuclear regions at high resolution and low frequency. We use publicly available images from the FIRST survey at 1.4 GHz and the Karl G. Jansky VLA Sky Survey at 3 GHz to achieve our goals. In addition, for one restarted candidate we present new dedicated observations with the VLA at 3 GHz. We have found various morphologies of the central regions of the radio galaxies in our sample, some resembling miniature double-double radio galaxies. We also see the beginnings of active jets or distinct detections unrelated to the large-scale structure. Furthermore, we have found diverse radio spectra in our sample - flat, steep, or peaked between 150 MHz and 3 GHz, indicative of the different life-cycle phases. Based on these analyses, we confirm five of six previously considered restarted candidates and identify three more from the active sample, supporting previous results suggesting that the restarted phase can occur after a relatively short remnant phase (i.e. a few tens of millions of years).