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Emily Moravec

Publications and source records attributed to Emily Moravec.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Sensitive 3mm Imaging of Discrete Sources in the Fields of X-ray-Selected Galaxy Clusters

In this paper, we present the results of a blind survey for compact sources in 138 galaxy clusters from the eFEDS X-ray survey. Of these clusters, 96 are new observations. These targets have X-ray mass estimates and redshifts that formally place them above the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (tSZ) survey limits from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT, DR5), yet were not detected. Compact sources with apparent locations close to (<104") the center of a galaxy cluster can in-fill the tSZ flux decrement, resulting in tSZ surveys missing clusters. To quantify the number of missing clusters from ACT, we carried out a survey at 90GHz using MUSTANG2 on the Green Bank Telescope and achieved a 5-sigma detection limit of 1mJy in the center of each cluster. We detected 11 discrete sources, which when scaled, is slightly lower than our previous tSZ selected sample, M2-ACT (8.0% vs 9.9%). All had radio counterparts. However, unlike the M2-ACT sample, the sources in X-ray selected clusters were concentrated closer to the cluster centers. When their effect on the measured tSZ signal is taken into account the sources we found would result in 4.5% of clusters being missed by tSZ surveys - a result similar to the estimate in recent ACT results. Most of the 96 clusters in eFEDS but not in ACT are a result of noise and overestimation of mass from X-ray measurements.

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The Hunt for Red Dual AGNs I: Spatially-Resolved Mid-IR Dual AGNs in the DeCam Legacy Survey

Theoretical studies predict that dual AGNs are a critical stage of galaxy merger-driven supermassive black hole growth. Systematic searches for dual AGNs typically target late-stage mergers ($\leq10$ kpc nuclear separations) and select AGNs based on optical diagnostics. Yet, simulations predict that obscuration can occur early in the merger sequence, and that a significant fraction of dual AGNs can be found beyond $10$ kpc. Here, we report on a new sample of 157 spatially resolved mid-IR dual AGNs candidates selected based upon their mid-IR $W1-W2$ colors from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer and optically classified as galaxy merger candidates using imaging from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey. Spectroscopic results are presented for approximately 2/3 of the sample. 76 candidates have been confirmed to reside in galaxy mergers; among these, 13 have been confirmed as bona fide mid-IR dual AGNs, while 63 represent strong dual AGN candidates that require further examination. 46 candidates have been rejected as non-merger contaminants (foreground-background AGNs, separations inconsistent with interacting galaxies, etc.). 35 candidates still await spectroscopic coverage. The confirmed and high confidence dual AGN candidates exhibit separations of 14.5-129 kpc; $>50$% reside at separations $>50$ kpc. Confirmed and high confidence candidates also exhibit a diversity of nuclear optical BPT classes. Seyfert-Seyferts and Seyfert-HIIs dominate the overall BPT pairs sample. 31% of confirmed mid-IR dual AGNs reside in multi-mergers involving three or more galaxies. The diversity in AGN properties and environments identified in this work highlights the importance of multiwavelength selection strategies and analyses in the quest to holistically understand dual AGNs as a population.

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ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) II: 3mm continuum images

The ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey, ACES, has mapped $\gtrsim1000$ square arcminutes at 3 mm toward the center of our Galaxy. ACES provides the first large-scale, high-resolution ($\sim2.5$") view of the central $\sim200$ parsecs of the Milky Way. In this work, we describe the continuum data processing and present the continuum data products. In the combined mosaic of 45 individual ALMA mosaics, the typical RMS noise achieved is $\sim0.1$ mJy per $\sim2.5$" beam, though there is a tail of substantially higher noise toward regions with bright continuum structure, especially around Sgr A* and Sgr B2. In-band spectral indices are measurable for a small fraction of the brightest and most compact sources, enabling distinction between dust-dominated and free-free- or synchrotron-dominated sources. To recover emission on large angular scales, we present the GBT MUSTANG-2 Three millimeter Extended Nucleus Survey (TENS), a new 10"resolution survey of the CMZ, which we combine with the ACES image by feathering. To demonstrate the quality and reliability of the ACES data, we compare to previously-published ALMA data obtained with higher resolution and sensitivity, finding overall good agreement with past results, but some disagreement toward the brightest sources.

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The Optical Properties of Host Galaxies of Radio Sources in the Coma Cluster

We present a comprehensive study of host galaxies of radio sources within the 1.35$R_{200}$ of the Coma cluster by combining deep 144MHz observations from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS-DR2) with optical spectroscopy and photometry from DESI and SDSS. We identify 79 spectroscopically confirmed cluster members with reliable radio emission and classify them into compact, extended, and tailed subsamples according to their radio morphologies. By combining their radio and optical properties, we find compact radio sources are predominantly associated with massive, quiescent galaxies driven by AGN activity, while tailed sources are largely hosted by star-forming galaxies, tracing ongoing ram pressure stripping (RPS). Using phase-space analysis and a projected infall time proxy ($d_R$), we find that extended sources are preferentially located in the cluster outskirts ($d_R > 1$), while tailed sources are concentrated in the intermediate infall region ($0.4 < d_R < 1.0$), highlighting the influence of the dense intracluster medium.

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The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2: Splashback Radii to z=1.65 from Galaxy Density Profiles

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2 (MaDCoWS2) is a WISE-selected catalog of galaxy clusters at $0.1 6000$ deg$^2$. In this paper, we derive splashback radii for this cluster ensemble from galaxy density profiles and constrain the mass threshold of the survey as a function of redshift. We use MaDCoWS2 cluster candidates at $0.4\leq z \leq 1.65$ divided into subsamples with different signal-to-noise (S/N$_{\rm P}$) and redshifts, cross-correlated with galaxies from the CatWISE2020 catalog, to obtain average surface density profiles. We perform a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to derive parameter estimates for theoretical models consisting of orbiting and infalling terms. A distinct splashback feature is detected in all subsamples. The measured splashback radii span from $0.89^{+0.02}_{-0.02}h^{-1}$ comoving Mpc/cMpc ($0.61^{+0.02}_{-0.02}h^{-1}$ proper Mpc/pMpc) at $\overline{z}=0.45$ to $1.27^{+0.05}_{-0.05}h^{-1}$ cMpc ($0.53^{+0.04}_{-0.04}h^{-1}$ pMpc) at $\overline{z}=1.54$. We also find that splashback radii increase with $S/N_{\rm P}$ at fixed redshift. The resultant splashback radii constrain the redshift dependence of the mass of MaDCoWS2 clusters at fixed $S/N_{\rm P}$. We calculate $M_{\rm 200m}$ from the radii using a relation based on a cosmological simulation. MaDCoWS2 $M_{\rm 200m}$ values derived from the simulation-based relation are lower than the expected values based on weak-lensing observations. More robust mass constraints will come from calibrating splashback radii derived from galaxy density profiles with weak lensing shear profiles from facilities such as $\textit{Euclid}$, Rubin, and $\textit{Roman}$.

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The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2: Detection of splashback radii in galaxy cluster total light stacks

The splashback radius, the radius of the apocenter of the first orbit of infalling material, is a measurable quantity marking the boundary between a galaxy cluster and its infalling region. We report detections of splashback radii in total light stacks, i.e. image stacks centered on the cores of galaxy clusters. Our analysis uses Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W1 and W2 images of 83,345 candidate clusters at $0.5 \lesssim z \lesssim 1.9$ from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2 (MaDCoWS2). The clusters are organized in stacks by redshift and signal-to-noise ($S\slash N$) ratios. We adopt a statistical approach, using 1000 bootstrap realizations to determine the median projected splashback radius and its confidence interval in a given bin. We compare our splashback radii with the measurements made by K. Thongkham et al. on a similar sample of MaDCoWS2 clusters using galaxy-cluster cross-correlation and find that they are consistent, although our method yields larger error bars. Our main systematic error is the accuracy of the background subtraction, but its impact remains small: the consistency of K. Thongkham et al. and our results suggests that neither method suffers from large systematics. The sensitivity of total light stacking to the contribution of faint galaxies can be advantageous to locate splashback radii when only the brightest galaxies are detected in individual images, such as at high redshifts. We present a potential application of this new technique to probe the evolution of the stellar mass in cluster infalling regions.

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The Massive and Distant Clusters of $WISE$ Survey. XII. Exploring X-ray AGN in Dynamically Active Massive Galaxy Clusters at z~1

We present an analysis of the cluster X-ray morphology and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity in nine $z\sim1$ galaxy clusters from the Massive and Distant Clusters of $WISE$ Survey (MaDCoWS) observed with $Chandra$. Using photon asymmetry ($A_{\text{phot}}$) to quantify X-ray morphologies, we find evidence that the four most dynamically disturbed clusters are likely to be mergers. Employing a luminosity cut of $7.6\times10^{42}$ erg/s to identify AGN in the 0.7-7.0 keV, we show that the majority of these clusters host excess AGN compared to the local field. We use the cumulative number-count ($\log N-\log S$) model to predict AGN incidence in cluster isophotes under this luminosity cut. Our analysis finds evidence (at $> 2\sigma$) of a positive correlation between AGN surface densities and photon asymmetry, suggesting that a disturbed cluster environment plays a pivotal role in regulating AGN triggering. Studying AGN incidence in cluster X-ray isophotes equivalent in area to $1.0r_{500}$, we find that the AGN space density inversely scales with cluster mass as $\sim M^{-0.5^{+0.18}_{-0.18}}$ at the 3.18$\sigma$ level. Finally, when we separately explore the cluster mass dependence of excess AGN surface density in disturbed and relaxed clusters, we see tentative evidence that the two morphologically distinct sub-populations exhibit diverging trends, especially near the outskirts, likely due to cluster merger-driven AGN triggering/suppression.

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The Merging Galaxy Cluster Environment Affects the Morphology of Radio-AGN

It has previously been found that the galaxy cluster environment can affect the fueling and evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). This work examines the effect of the merging cluster environment on the properties of radio-AGN by comparing the radio morphology of cluster members in a sample of four merging and eight relaxed galaxy clusters at low redshift (z<0.2). Using 144-MHz data from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) and Zooniverse, we classify the radio morphology of the radio-detected cluster members using the following morphology classes: compact, compact extended, extended, jetted, and disturbed. We find that the merging cluster environment has a statistically significant, higher population proportion of disturbed (bent and head tail) sources, indicating that the merging environment can affect the morphology of cluster radio-AGN. We also investigate the number of AGN that are detected in the radio data only, and the number that are detected in both the radio and optical data in mergers and non-mergers. We find that the merging cluster environment has a higher population proportion of AGN that are identified only as radio-AGN compared to AGN that are identified as both radio and optical AGN. Overall, we find that the merging environment affects certain radio-AGN (disturbed and only radio identified AGN), but not all.

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The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2: Second Data Release

We present the second data release of the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2 (MaDCoWS2). We expand from the equatorial first data release to most of the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey area, covering a total area of 6498 deg^2. The catalog consists of 133,036 S/N $\geq5$ galaxy cluster candidates at $0.1\leq z \leq2$, including 6790 candidates at z > 1.5. We train a convolutional neural network (CNN) to identify spurious detections, and include CNN-based cluster probabilities in the final catalog. We also compare the MaDCoWS2 sample with literature catalogs in the same area. The larger sample provides robust results that are consistent with our first data release. At S/N $\geq5$, we rediscover 59-91% of clusters in existing catalogs that lie in the unmasked area of MC2. The median positional offsets are under 250 kpc, and the standard deviation of the redshifts is 0.031(1+z). We fit a redshift-dependent power law to the relation between MaDCoWS2 S/N and observables from existing catalogs. Over the redshift ranges where the surveys overlap with MaDCoWS2, the lowest scatter is found between S/N and observables from optical/infrared surveys. We also assess the performance of our method using a mock light cone measuring purity and completeness as a function of cluster mass. The purity is above 90%, and we estimate the 50% completeness threshold at a virial mass of log(M/M$_\odot$)$\approx14.3$. The completeness estimate is uncertain due to the small number of massive halos in the light cone, but consistent with the recovery fraction found by comparing to other cluster catalogs.

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The RAdio Galaxy Environment Reference Survey (RAGERS): Evidence of an anisotropic distribution of submillimeter galaxies in the 4C 23.56 protocluster at z=2.48

High-redshift radio(-loud) galaxies (H$z$RGs) are massive galaxies with powerful radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and serve as beacons for protocluster identification. However, the interplay between H$z$RGs and the large-scale environment remains unclear. To understand the connection between H$z$RGs and the surrounding obscured star formation, we investigated the overdensity and spatial distribution of submillimeter-bright galaxies (SMGs) in the field of 4C\,23.56, a well-known H$z$RG at $z=2.48$. We used SCUBA-2 data ($\sigma\,{\sim}\,0.6$\,mJy) to estimate the $850\,{\rm \mu m}$ source number counts and examine the radial and azimuthal overdensities of the $850\,{\rm \mu m}$ sources in the vicinity of the H$z$RG. The angular distribution of SMGs is inhomogeneous around the H$z$RG 4C\,23.56, with fewer sources oriented along the radio jet. We also find a significant overdensity of bright SMGs (${\rm S}_{850\rm\,\mu m}\geq5\,$mJy). Faint and bright SMGs exhibit different spatial distributions. The former are concentrated in the core region, while the latter prefer the outskirts of the H$z$RG field. High-resolution observations show that the seven brightest SMGs in our sample are intrinsically bright, suggesting that the overdensity of bright SMGs is less likely due to the source multiplicity.

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The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2: A Stacking Analysis Investigating the Evolution of Star Formation Rates and Stellar Masses in Groups and Clusters

The evolution of galaxies depends on their masses and local environments; understanding when and how environmental quenching starts to operate remains a challenge. Furthermore, studies of the high-redshift regime have been limited to massive cluster members, owing to sensitivity limits or small fields of views when the sensitivity is sufficient, intrinsically biasing the picture of cluster evolution. In this work, we use stacking to investigate the average star formation history of more than 10,000 groups and clusters drawn from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2 (MaDCoWS2). Our analysis covers near ultraviolet to far infrared wavelengths, for galaxy overdensities at $0.5 \lesssim z \lesssim 2.54$. We employ SED fitting to measure the specific star formation rates (sSFR) in four annular apertures with radii between 0 and 1000 kpc. At $z \gtrsim 1.6$, the average sSFR evolves similarly to the field in both the core and the cluster outskirts. Between $\overline{z} = 1.60$ and $\overline{z} = 1.35$, the sSFR in the core drops sharply, and continues to fall relative to the field sSFR at lower redshifts. We interpret this change as evidence that the impact of environmental quenching dramatically increases at $z \sim 1.5$, with the short time span of the transition suggesting that the environmental quenching mechanism dominant at this redshift operates on a rapid timescale. We find indications that the sSFR may decrease with increasing host halo mass, but lower-scatter mass tracers than the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) are needed to confirm this relationship.

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Radio properties of Green Pea galaxies

Green Peas (GPs) are young, compact, star-forming dwarf galaxies, and local (z~0.3) analogues of the early galaxies (z>6) considered to be mainly responsible for the reionisation of the Universe. Recent X-ray observations of GPs have detected high excess emission which cannot be accounted for by star formation alone, and implies presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). We employ radio observations to study the radio properties of GPs, build their radio spectral energy distributions, and verify the presence of AGNs. We performed new radio observations of three GPs with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) in the L, C, and X bands (1.4, 6 and 10 GHz resp.), supplemented by the data from archival observations and large radio surveys. We also analysed the archival radio data for a larger sample of GPs and blueberry (BBs) galaxies, which are lower-mass and lower-redshift analogues of the GPs. To understand the significance of the radio observations, we assess the detectability of these sources, and compare the detected radio luminosities with the expectations from theoretical and empirical relations. Two of the three targeted GPs were strongly detected ($>10\sigma$) in the JVLA observations and their fluxes are consistent with star formation, while the third source was undetected. Although a large fraction (~75%) of the sources from the larger archival sample of GPs and BBs could be detected with archival surveys, only a small number (<40%) are detected and their radio luminosity is significantly lower than the expectation from empirical relations. Our results show that the majority of the dwarf galaxy sample is highly underluminous. Especially towards the lower end of galaxy mass and star formation rate (SFR), the radio luminosity-SFR relation deviates from the empirical relations, suggesting that the relations established for larger galaxies may not hold towards the low-mass end.

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The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2: Equatorial First Data Release

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2 (MaDCoWS2) is a new survey designed as the successor of the original MaDCoWS survey. MaDCoWS2 improves upon its predecessor by using deeper optical and infrared data and a more powerful detection algorithm (PZWav). As input to the search, we use grz photometry from DECaLS in combination with W1 and W2 photometry from the CatWISE2020 catalog to derive the photometric redshifts with full redshift probability distribution functions for WISE-selected galaxies. Cluster candidates are then detected using the PZWav algorithm to find three-dimensional galaxy overdensities from the sky positions and photometric redshifts. This paper provides the first MaDCoWS2 data release, covering 1461 (1838 without masking) deg^2 centered on the Hyper-SuprimeCam Subaru Strategic Program equatorial fields. Within this region, we derive a catalog of 22,970 galaxy cluster candidates detected at S/N>5. These clusters span the redshift range 0.1 1.5. We compare MaDCoWS2 to six existing catalogs in the area. We rediscover 60%-92% of the clusters in these surveys at S/N>5. The medians of the absolute redshift offset are <0.02 relative to these surveys, while the standard deviations are less than 0.06. The median offsets between the detection position from MaDCoWS2 and other surveys are less than 0.25 Mpc. We quantify the relation between S/N and gas mass, total mass, luminosity, and richness from other surveys using a redshift-dependent power law relation. We find that the S/N-richness relation exhibits the lowest scatter.

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Sensitive 3mm Imaging of Discrete Sources in the Fields of tSZ-Selected Galaxy Clusters

In this paper we present the results of a blind survey for compact sources in 243 Galaxy clusters that were identified using the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (tSZ). The survey was carried out at 90 GHz using MUSTANG2 on the Green Bank telescope and achieved a $5\sigma$ detection limit of 1 mJy in the center of each cluster. We detected 24 discrete sources. The majority (18) of these correspond to known radio sources, and of these, 5 show signs of significant variability, either with time or in spectral index. The remaining sources have no clear counterparts at other wavelengths. Searches for galaxy clusters via the tSZ effect strongly rely on observations at 90 GHz, and the sources found have the potential to bias mass estimates of clusters. We compare our results to the simulation Websky that can be used to estimate the source contamination in galaxy cluster catalogs. While the simulation showed a good match to our observations at the clusters' centers, it does not match our source distribution further out. Sources over 104" from a cluster's center bias the tSZ signal high, for some of our sources, by over 50%. When averaged over the whole cluster population the effect is smaller but still at a level of 1 to 2%. We also discovered that unlike previous measurements and simulations we see an enhancement of source counts in the outer regions of the clusters and fewer sources than expected in the centers of this tSZ selected sample.

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The High-Redshift Clusters Occupied by Bent Radio AGN (COBRA) Survey: Investigating the Role of Environment on Bent Radio AGNs using LOFAR

Bent radio AGN morphology depends on the density of the surrounding gas. However, bent sources are found inside and outside clusters, raising the question of how environment impacts bent AGN morphology. We analyze new LOw-Frequency Array Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) Data Release II observations of 20 bent AGNs in clusters and 15 not in clusters from the high-$z$ Clusters Occupied by Bent Radio AGN (COBRA) survey (0.35 $<$ $z$ $<$ 2.35). We measure the impact of environment on size, lobe symmetry, and radio luminosity. We find that the most asymmetric radio lobes lie outside of clusters and we uncover a tentative correlation between the total projected physical area and cluster overdensity. Additionally, we, for the first time, present spectral index measurements of a large sample of high-$z$ bent sources using LoTSS and Very Large Array Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters (VLA FIRST) observations. We find that the median spectral index for the cluster sample is -0.76 $\pm$ 0.01, while the median spectral index for the non-cluster sample median is -0.81 $\pm$ 0.02. Furthermore, 13 of 20 cluster bent AGNs have flat cores ($\alpha$ $\geq$ -0.6) compared to 4 of 15 of non-clusters, indicating a key environmental signature. Beyond core spectral index, bent AGNs inside and outside clusters are remarkably similar. We conclude that the non-cluster sample may be more representative of bent AGNs at large offsets from the cluster center ($>$ 1.2Mpc) or bent AGNs in weaker groups rather than the field.

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Inferences from surface brightness fluctuations of Zwicky 3146 via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect and X-ray observations

The galaxy cluster Zwicky 3146 is a sloshing cool core cluster at $z{=}0.291$ that in SZ imaging does not appear to exhibit significant pressure substructure in the intracluster medium (ICM). We perform a surface brightness fluctuation analysis via Fourier amplitude spectra on SZ (MUSTANG-2) and X-ray (XMM-Newton) images of this cluster. These surface brightness fluctuations can be deprojected to infer pressure and density fluctuations from the SZ and X-ray data, respectively. In the central region (Ring 1, $r < 100^{\prime\prime} = 440$ kpc, in our analysis) we find fluctuation spectra that suggest injection scales around 200 kpc ($\sim 140$ kpc from pressure fluctuations and $\sim 250$ kpc from density fluctuations). When comparing the pressure and density fluctuations in the central region, we observe a change in the effective thermodynamic state from large to small scales, from isobaric (likely due to the slow sloshing) to adiabatic (due to more vigorous motions). By leveraging scalings from hydrodynamical simulations, we find an average 3D Mach number $\approx0.5$. We further compare our results to other studies of Zwicky 3146 and, more broadly, to other studies of fluctuations in other clusters.

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Data Combination: Interferometry and Single-dish Imaging in Radio Astronomy

Modern interferometers routinely provide radio-astronomical images down to subarcsecond resolution. However, interferometers filter out spatial scales larger than those sampled by the shortest baselines, which affects the measurement of both spatial and spectral features. Complementary single-dish data are vital for recovering the true flux distribution of spatially resolved astronomical sources with such extended emission. In this work, we provide an overview of the prominent available methods to combine single-dish and interferometric observations. We test each of these methods in the framework of the CASA data analysis software package on both synthetic continuum and observed spectral data sets. We develop a set of new assessment tools that are generally applicable to all radio-astronomical cases of data combination. Applying these new assessment diagnostics, we evaluate the methods' performance and demonstrate the significant improvement of the combined results in comparison to purely interferometric reductions. We provide combination and assessment scripts as add-on material. Our results highlight the advantage of using data combination to ensure high-quality science images of spatially resolved objects.

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Is jet re-orientation the elusive trigger for star formation suppression in radio galaxies?

Jet re-orientation associated with the time evolution of radio quasars explains the formation of X-shaped radio galaxies and their preference for isolated environments. But since X-shaped radio galaxies are generally not found in dense environments (e.g. groups/clusters), the jet re-orientation phenomenon for radio galaxies in groups and clusters has been ignored. We take a closer look at the re-orientation of FRI jets with respect to FRII jets, and find that it may constitute the as-yet unidentified trigger for star formation suppression in radio galaxies. We show how the recently explored radio "red geyser" galaxies can be interpreted in this context and ultimately reveal a deeper understanding of why FRII radio galaxies are on one side of the star formation enhancement/suppression divide compared to FRI radio galaxies.

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