arXiv subjects

Andrzej Marecki

Publications and source records attributed to Andrzej Marecki.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2014

4C 34.47: an X-shaped radio source with a relic signature of AGN axis reorientation

We report a serendipitous discovery of a pair of relic lobes separated by 1.86 Mpc and straddling the radio-loud quasar 4C 34.47. The axis connecting them makes an appreciable angle with the axis of its well-known double-lobed radio structure. This object is thus a giant X-shaped source. We provide arguments supporting a rapid reorientation of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) axis as the only plausible scenario explaining the overall morphology of the object. Furthermore, we suggest that another flip of the AGN axis might have occurred in 4C 34.47 and the AGN axis happened to make a small angle with the line of sight after that. We assume that the second repositioning must have been relatively recent, hence the radio structure building up at the final position of the AGN axis is of milliarcsecond scale so far, while the main double, although no longer fuelled, has no signatures of decay yet.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

X-shaped radio sources as parent population of core-dominated triple blazars

There are a number of theories explaining the nature of the so-called X-shaped radio sources. According to one of them, an X-shaped source is indeed a cross whose one arm is associated with a double radio source that has changed its orientation in space, while the other arm is associated with relic lobes and its position indicates the former direction of the jets. Here, I present two new arguments in favour of this conjecture. Firstly, it is obvious that shortly after the repositioning, the pair of the new lobes must be very compact. To illustrate such a possibility, I show an EVN image of the central component of a triple source J1625+2712. When resolved, it appears as a compact double that is not aligned with the outer double so the whole source is indeed X-shaped. Secondly, I consider the situation when one of the arms of an X-shaped source is not intrinsically short but foreshortened by projection. I show two examples of triple sources whose central component is a blazar and the span of the lobes that straddle it amounts to more than 6\times10^5 pc. An assumption that sources of this kind have one axis, and so the lobes are beamed in the same way the core is, would require unrealistically huge deprojected linear sizes. Therefore, I claim that core-dominated triples (CDT) like these two have two axes: the one pertinent to the relic lobes is not pointed towards us so they are not beamed/foreshortened, whereas the axis pertinent to the jets makes a small angle with the line of sight so that a blazar is observed. It follows that X-shaped sources must be actual crosses and they are the parent (unbeamed) population of at least some CDT blazars, particularly those with large overall sizes.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Are 3C249.1 and 3C334 restarted quasars?

This Research Note follows up a Letter in which I posit that J1211+743 is a restarted radio source. This means that its structure, where the jet points to the relic lobe, is only apparently paradoxical. Here, I propose the same scenario and apply the same mathematical model to 3C249.1 and 3C334. The ultimate result of my investigation is that these two well-known radio-loud quasars can be understood best so far if it was assumed that they, too, had been restarted.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Activity restart - a key to explaining the morphology of J1211+743

J1211+743 is a giant radio galaxy with a one-sided jet and two asymmetric lobes, one of which is of Fanaroff-Riley (FR) type II with a hotspot and the other is a diffuse relic devoid of a hotspot. The jet points towards the latter lobe, which is difficult to explain in a standard way within the double-lobed radio source paradigm. Here, I propose to assume that the nucleus of J1211+743 has undergone a re-ignition of activity and its lobes, presumably both originally of FR II type, represent an earlier active phase, while the jet represents the current one. The asymmetry of the lobes is a consequence of the orientation of the source combined with an activity switch-off that occurred between two active periods. The relic lobe is on the near side with regard to the observer, whereas the radiation from the far-side lobe arrives significantly later owing to its longer distance to the observer. The far-side lobe is thus perceived to have not yet decayed. On the other hand, the jet behaves in a standard way, i.e. its projected orientation reflects the near side of the source. Hence, we are able to explain why the location of the relic lobe correlates with the direction of the jet.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

More evidence for extinction of activity in galaxies

This Research Note amends an article in which we showed that radio-loud quasars can become radio-quiet. Exploring the analogy between galactic nuclei and X-ray binaries (XRB), we pointed out there that this transition in quasars could be identified with a switch from low/hard to high/soft state in microquasars. Here, we present the evidence that traces of past occurrences of this kind of phenomena can be found in normal but once active galaxies. Based on the properties of a few such "post-active" galaxies that are representative for a much wider group, it has been argued that they have reached the evolutionary stages when their nuclei, which were radio-loud in the past, now, mimicking the behaviour of XRBs, remain in the intermediate state on their way towards quiescence or even have already entered the quiescent state. It follows that the full evolutionary track of XRBs can be mapped onto the evolution of galaxies. The above findings are in line with those reported recently for IC 2497, a galaxy that 70,000 years ago or less hosted a quasar but now appears as a normal one. This scenario stems from the presence of Hanny's Voorwerp, a nebulous object in its vicinity excited by that QSO in the epoch when IC 2497 was active. The post-active galaxies we deal with here are accompanied by extremely weak and diffuse relic radio lobes that were inflated during their former active period. These relics can be regarded as radio analogues of Hanny's Voorwerp.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The transition from quasar radio-loud to radio-quiet state in the framework of the black hole scalability hypothesis

There are several lines of evidence that active galactic nuclei (AGN) can be regarded as scaled-up X-ray binaries (XRB). The timescales of the evolutionary phenomena in these two classes are proportional to the black hole (BH) masses. Consequently, unlike in the case of XRBs, the evolution of AGNs is too slow to be followed directly. What could be done, however, is to assign particular types of active galaxies to different evolutionary stages observable in XRBs. We studied such an assignment for three quasars with clear signatures of a recent transition from the radio-loud to the radio-quiet state. The quasars we investigated have large-scale radio lobes that are clearly asymmetric -- one lobe is of Fanaroff-Riley II type, while the other one is a diffuse relic devoid of a hotspot. We suggest that the prime cause of the asymmetry of these radio sources is that the nuclei of their host galaxies currently produce no jets. To prove that, we observed them with milliarcsecond resolution to check if they are similar to those in radio-quiet quasars. The observations carried out with the EVN revealed that the nuclei of the quasars under investigation are not of a core-jet type that is characteristic for radio-loud, lobe-dominated quasars. It follows that the lobes are no longer fuelled and that the apparent asymmetry results from the orientation, which causes a time lag of the order of 10^6 years between their images: the lobe perceived as a relic is nearer than the lobe with a hotspot and so it is observed in a later stage of the decay. The three AGNs under investigation were radio-loud earlier, but now they have switched to the radio-quiet state. In the framework of the XRB/AGN unification, the above means that they have left the very high state and have moved now to the high/soft state. (abridged)

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Evidence of a double-double morphology in B0818+214

The so-called double-double structure in radio sources is the most conspicuous signature of their restarted activity. Observations indicate that in the majority of double-double radio sources (DDRS), the span of the radio lobes is larger than 0.7 Mpc. This lower limit is also suggested by theory. However, it seemed likely that the apparent core of B0818+214, a radio galaxy with an overall linear size of its radio structure below that limit, could harbour a compact double well aligned with the outer lobes so that the whole object would fulfil the criteria of a DDRS. Here, we present evidence that the central component of B0818+214, when magnified through the EVN+MERLIN 18-cm observations, shows two FR II-like lobes. As the separation of the inner lobes is not greater than 5.7 kpc, they are immersed in the ISM of the host galaxy. This circumstance is the likely reason why the inner double has become visible, despite the predictions of the theory according to which B0818+214 as a whole is too small for a new double to develop inside the cocoon inflated during the previous active phase. Moreover, we speculate that its host galaxy is not active at the moment and so the inner double may be in the coasting phase often observed in other medium-sized symmetric objects with intermittent activity. It could be, therefore, that two different mechanisms of accretion disk instabilities, ionisation and radiation-pressure driven, may be independently responsible for triggering active phases, manifesting as the outer and the inner doubles, respectively.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2007

FIRST-based survey of Compact Steep Spectrum sources, V. Milliarcsecond-scale morphology of CSS objects

Multifrequency VLBA observations of the final group of ten objects in a sample of FIRST-based compact steep spectrum (CSS) sources are presented. The sample was selected to investigate whether objects of this kind could be relics of radio-loud AGNs switched off at very early stages of their evolution or possibly to indicate intermittent activity. Initial observations were made using MERLIN at 5 GHz. The sources have now been observed with the VLBA at 1.7, 5 and 8.4 GHz in a snapshot mode with phase-referencing. The resulting maps are presented along with unpublished 8.4-GHz VLA images of five sources. Some of the sources discussed here show a complex radio morphology and therefore a complicated past that, in some cases, might indicate intermittent activity. One of the sources studied - 1045+352 - is known as a powerful radio and infrared-luminous broad absorption line (BAL) quasar. It is a young CSS object whose asymmetric two-sided morphology on a scale of several hundred parsecs, extending in two different directions, may suggest intermittent activity. The young age and compact structure of 1045+352 is consistent with the evolution scenario of BAL quasars. It has also been confirmed that the submillimetre flux of 1045+352 can be seriously contaminated by synchrotron emission.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Multi-frequency radio observations of BAL quasar 1045+352

Multi-frequency 1.7, 5 and 8.4-GHz VLBA observations of a radio-loud broad absorption line (BAL) quasar 1045+352 are presented. It is a young compact steep spectrum (CSS) object and its asymmetric, two-sided morphology on a scale of several hundred parsecs, extending in two different directions, may suggest intermittent activity. The young age and unusual morphology of 1045+352 are arguments in favour of an evolution scenario for BAL quasars, in which the BAL features appear at a very early stage of their evolution.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

FIRST-based survey of Compact Steep Spectrum sources, IV. Multifrequency VLBA observations of very compact objects

Evidence has been mounting recently that activity in some radio-loud AGNs (RLAGNs) can cease shortly after ignition and that perhaps even a majority of very compact sources may be short-lived phenomena because of a lack of stable fuelling from the black hole. Thus, they can fade out before having evolved to large, extended objects. Re-ignition of the activity in such objects is not ruled out. With the aim of finding more examples of these objects and to investigate if they could be RLAGNs switched off at very early stages of their evolution, multifrequency VLBA observations of six sources with angular sizes significantly less than an arcsecond, yet having steep spectra, have been made. Observations were initially made at 1.65 GHz using the VLBA with the inclusion of Effelsberg telescope. The sources were then re-observed with the VLBA at 5, 8.4 and 15.4 GHz. All the observations were carried out in a snapshot mode with phase referencing. One of the sources studied, 0809+404, is dominated by a compact component but also has diffuse, arcsecond-scale emission visible in VLA images. The VLBI observations of the "core" structure have revealed that this is also diffuse and fading away at higher frequencies. Thus, the inner component of 0809+404 could be a compact fading object. The remaining five sources presented here show either core-jet or edge-brightened double-lobed structures indicating that they are in an active phase. The above result is an indication that the activity of the host galaxy of 0809+404 may be intermittent. Previous observations obtained from the literature and those presented here indicate that activity had ceased once in the past, then restarted, and has recently switched off again.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

FIRST-based survey of Compact Steep Spectrum sources, III. MERLIN and VLBI observations of subarcsecond-scale objects

According to a generally accepted paradigm, small intrinsic sizes of Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) radio sources are a direct consequence of their youth, but in later stages of their evolution they are believed to become large-scale sources. However, this notion was established mainly for strong CSS sources. In this series of papers we test this paradigm on 60 weaker objects selected from the VLA FIRST survey. They have 5-GHz flux densities in the range 150 < S_{5GHz} < 550 mJy and steep spectra in the range 0.365 \le ν\le 5 GHz. The present paper is focused on sources that fulfill the above criteria and have angular sizes in the range 0.2\arcsec - 1\arcsec. Observations of 19 such sources were obtained using MERLIN in "snapshot" mode at 5 GHz. They are presented along with 1.7-GHz VLBA and 5-GHz EVN follow-up snapshot observations made for the majority of them. For one of the sources in this subsample, 1123+340, a full-track 5-GHz EVN observation was also carried out. This study provides an important element to the standard theory of CSS sources, namely that in a number of them the activity of their host galaxies probably switched off quite recently and their further growth has been stopped because of that. In the case of 1123+340, the relic of a compact "dead source" is particularly well preserved by the presence of intracluster medium of the putative cluster of galaxies surrounding it. The observed overabundance of compact sources can readily be explained in the framework of the scenario of "premature" cessation of the activity of the host galaxy nucleus. It could also explain the relatively low radio flux densities of many such sources and, in a few cases, their peculiar, asymmetric morphologies. We propose a new interpretation of such asymmetries based on the light-travel time argument.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

FIRST-based survey of Compact Steep Spectrum sources, II. MERLIN and VLA observations of Medium-sized Symmetric Objects

A new sample of candidate Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) sources that are much weaker than the CSS source prototypes has been selected from the VLA FIRST catalogue. MERLIN `snapshot' observations of the sources at 5 GHz indicate that six of them have an FR II-like morphology, but are not edge-brightened as is normal for Medium-sized Symmetric Objects (MSOs) and FR IIs. Further observations of these six sources with the VLA at 4.9 GHz and MERLIN at 1.7 GHz, as well as subsequent full-track observations with MERLIN at 5 GHz of what appeared to be the two sources of greatest interest are presented. The results are discussed with reference to the established evolutionary model of CSS sources being young but in which not all of them evolve to become old objects with extended radio structures. A lack of stable fuelling in some of them may result in an early transition to a so-called coasting phase so that they fade away instead of growing to become large-scale objects. It is possible that one of the six sources (1542+323) could be labelled as a prematurely `dying' MSO or a `fader'.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Cosmic crystallography using short-lived objects - active galactic nuclei

Cosmic crystallography is based on the principle that peaks in the pair separation histogram (PSH) of objects in a catalogue should be induced by the high number of topologically lensed pairs that are separated by Clifford translations, in excess to ``random'' pairs of objects. Here we present modifications of this method that successively improve the signal-to-noise ratio by removing a large part of the noise and then false signals induced by selection effects. Given the transient nature of the most readily available tracer objects, active galactic nuclei (AGNs), the former is possible because a natural filter for removing many of the noise pairs is available: when counting pairs of objects in order to create PSHs, only those with nearly identical redshifts need to be counted. This redshift filter (a maximum value of $Δz/z = 0.005$) was applied to a compilation of AGN catalogues. Further noise was removed by applying a second filter, a maximum angle $Δθ=0.075$ rad, and a minimum number of pairs $\protect\npairs=3$ to find each ``bunch of pairs'' (BoP) where the {\em vectors} (in Euclidean comoving space) defined by pairs are required to be nearly equal, whereas in the PSH only the {\em lengths} must be nearly equal. These filters reveal significant signals, which, however, are due to selection effects. A third filter, a minimum length $\Lselec=150$ {\hMpc} between the (parallel) vectors in a BoP, is found to effectively remove these selection effect pairs. After application of these successive filters, no significant topological signal was found.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Signatures of restarted activity in core-dominated triples

The lobes of radio-loud AGNs are huge reservoirs of energy so even if the central engine turns off, the radio source is still observable for a substantial amount of time. It is quite obvious, however, that the ignition of a new period of activity can occur before the lobes have faded completely. Restarted activity has been observed in several giant radio galaxies but until recently, it has hardly ever been observed in more compact sources. Here we present an early result of a pilot VLBA programme targeted at compact core-dominated triples. It is found that the milliarcsecond structure of the central components in that type of objects normally take the form of core-jets, which in many cases do not point toward the relic lobes. Therefore, it looks as if the phenomenon of the restarted activity can occur regardless of the source size and it is often accompanied by a repositioning of the central engine.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

A Hint of Poincaré Dodecahedral Topology in the WMAP First Year Sky Map

Luminet et al. (2003) suggested that WMAP data are better matched by a Poincaré dodecahedral FLRW model of global geometry, rather than by an infinite flat model. The analysis by Cornish et al. (2003) for angular radii 25-90 degrees failed to support this. Here, a matched circles analysis specifically designed to detect dodecahedral patterns of matched circles is performed over angular radii in the range 1-40 degrees on the one-year WMAP ILC map, using a correlation statistic and an rms difference statistic. Extreme value distributions of these statistics are calculated for left-handed and right-handed 36 degree `screw motions' (Clifford translations) when matching circles and for a zero (unphysical) rotation. The most correlated circles appear for circle radii of 11\pm1 degrees, for the left-handed screw motion, but not for the right-handed one, nor for the zero rotation. The favoured six dodecahedral face centres in galactic coordinates are (l,b)= (252, +65), (51, +51), (144,+38), (207,+10), (271,+3), (332,+25) and their opposites. The six pairs of circles_independently_ each favour a circle angular radius of 11\pm1 degrees. Whether or not these six circle pairs centred on dodecahedral faces match via a 36 degree rotation only due to unexpected statistical properties of the WMAP ILC map, or whether they match due to global geometry, it is clear that the WMAP ILC map has some unusual statistical properties which mimic a potentially interesting cosmological signal. The software for reading the WMAP data and for carrying out this analysis are released under the GNU General Public License.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Weak CSS Sources from FIRST Survey

We report early results of an observational campaign targeted on a sample of compact steep spectrum sources selected from the FIRST survey which are significantly weaker than those investigated before. The selection criteria and procedure are given in detail. We present here an assortment of MERLIN and VLBI observations and make some general comments based on the morphologies of the sources presented.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Location of Weak CSS Sources on the Evolutionary Path of Radio-loud AGN

According to the currently accepted paradigm compact steep spectrum (CSS) sources are precursors of larger/older objects and gigahertz peaked spectrum (GPS) sources may be earlier stages of CSS sources. In this paper we confront this paradigm with the outcome of recent observations of CSS sources that are significantly weaker than those known before. In particular we claim that not all CSS sources must end up as large scale objects; if the activity phase of an AGN's central engine is shorter than the lifetime of a large scale radio source (up to ~10^8 years) the radio source associated with such an AGN decays earlier, e.g. at the CSS stage. We point out that a theory of thermal-viscous instabilities in the accretion disks of AGN may explain many features of radio sources at all stages of their evolution.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

1245+676 - a CSO/GPS source being an extreme case of a double-double structure

AGN with the so-called `double-double' radio structure have been interpreted as restarted AGN where the inner structure is a manifestation of a new phase of activity which happened to begin before the outer radio lobes resulting from the previous one had faded completely. The radio galaxy 1245+676 is an extreme example of such a double-double object - its outer structure, measuring 970 h^{-1} kpc, is five orders of magnitude larger than the 9.6 h^{-1} pc inner one. We present a series of VLBI observations of the core of 1245+676 which appears to be a compact symmetric object (CSO). We have detected the motion of the CSO's lobes, measured its velocity, and inferred the kinematic age of that structure.

astro-ph↗