Euclid: Quick Data Release (Q1) -- Optical hotspots in powerful radio galaxies

Abstract

The hotspots of powerful radio galaxies are the sites of high-energy particle acceleration, but radio observations give us limited information on the electron energy distributions that they generate, which affects our overall understanding of their physics and energetics. Optical synchrotron counterparts to radio galaxy hotspots, which probe high electron energies, have been known for many years, but have only been studied in a small number of objects selected as being very bright in the radio. By combining Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) observations with the Euclid Q1 data release in the Euclid Deep Field North, we identify 77 powerful radio galaxies with hotspots and show that a small but significant fraction of them, 7--15\%, may have detected infrared and optical counterparts to their hotspots. The hotspot spectral energy distributions in our clearest cases are consistent with particle acceleration up to (but not beyond) 1\,TeV in energy on the assumption of field strengths close to equipartition, whereas non-detected hotspots either do not reach such high electron energies or would have to have very different electron energy spectra or significantly sub-equipartition magnetic field strengths. Two new candidate optical hotspots are clearly detected matching high-resolution LOFAR data; one is remarkable as both the highest-redshift optical hotspot known to date ($z \approx 1.6$) and also the first optical detection of the hotspot of the inner lobe of a restarting source. We discuss approaches to performing a large-scale study of hotspots with the full wide-area Euclid surveys, particularly when combined with the international baselines of LOFAR, enabling for the first time a statistical analysis of high-energy particle acceleration in hotspots.