2001/04/12 by G. B. Taylor, G.B. Taylor, F. Govoni +4 · 83 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Cluster (spacecraft) #Cooling flow #Faraday effect #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy cluster #Magnetic field #Radio galaxy #Ram pressure #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04587.x
published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 326(1), 2-10 (Oxford University Press) · in press at MNRAS
arxiv created 2001/04/12 · openalex publication_date 2001/09/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present multifrequency VLA observations of the two radio galaxies 3C 129 and 3C 129.1 embedded in a luminous X-ray cluster. These radio observations reveal a substantial difference in the Faraday Rotation Measures (RMs) toward 3C 129.1 at the cluster centre and 3C 129 at the cluster periphery. After deriving the density profile from available X-ray data, we find that the RM structure of both radio galaxies can be fitted by a tangled cluster magnetic field with strength 6 μG extending at least 3 core radii (450 kpc) from the cluster centre. The magnetic field makes up a small contribution to the total pressure (5 per cent) in the central regions of the cluster. The radio morphology of 3C 129.1 appears disturbed on the southern side, perhaps by the higher pressure environment. In contrast with earlier claims for the presence of a moderately strong cooling flow in the 3C 129 cluster, our analysis of the X-ray data places a limit on the mass deposition rate from any such flow of < 1.2 M⊙ yr−1.