Discovery of a Powerful >10 61 erg AGN Outburst in the Distant Galaxy Cluster SPT-CLJ0528-5300

Abstract We present ∼103 ks of Chandra observations of the galaxy cluster SPT-CLJ0528-5300 (SPT0528, z = 0.768). This cluster harbors the most radio-loud ( L 1.4GHz = 1.01 × 10 33 erg s −1 Hz −1 ) central active galactic nucleus (AGN) of any cluster in the South Pole Telescope (SPT) Sunyaev–Zeldov...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Astrophysical journal. Letters 2019-12, Vol.887 (1), p.L17
Main Authors:	Calzadilla, Michael S., McDonald, Michael, Bayliss, Matthew, Benson, Bradford A., Bleem, Lindsey E., Brodwin, Mark, Edge, Alastair C., Floyd, Benjamin, Gupta, Nikhel, Hlavacek-Larrondo, Julie, McNamara, Brian R., Reichardt, Christian L.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS clusters galaxies individual (SPT-CLJ0528-5300) - X-rays
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Summary:	Abstract We present ∼103 ks of Chandra observations of the galaxy cluster SPT-CLJ0528-5300 (SPT0528, z = 0.768). This cluster harbors the most radio-loud ( L 1.4GHz = 1.01 × 10 33 erg s −1 Hz −1 ) central active galactic nucleus (AGN) of any cluster in the South Pole Telescope (SPT) Sunyaev–Zeldovich survey with available X-ray data. We find evidence of AGN-inflated cavities in the X-ray emission, which are consistent with the orientation of the jet direction revealed by Australia Telescope Compact Array radio data. The combined probability that two such depressions—each at ∼1.4–1.8 σ significance, oriented ∼180° apart and aligned with the jet axis—would occur by chance is 0.1%. At ≳10 61 erg, the outburst in SPT0528 is among the most energetic known in the universe, and certainly the most powerful known at z > 0.25. This work demonstrates that such powerful outbursts can be detected even in shallow X-ray exposures out to relatively high redshifts ( z ∼ 0.8), providing an avenue for studying the evolution of extreme AGN feedback. The ratio of the cavity power ( P cav = ( 9.4 ± 5.8 ) × 10 45 erg s −1 ) to the cooling luminosity ( L cool = (1.5 ± 0.5) × 10 44 erg s −1 ) for SPT0528 is among the highest measured to date. If, in the future, additional systems are discovered at similar redshifts with equally high P cav / L cool ratios, it would imply that the feedback/cooling cycle was not as gentle at high redshifts as in the low-redshift universe.
ISSN:	2041-8205 2041-8213 2041-8213