2023/08/10 by Lerato Baidoo, Baidoo, Lerato, R. A. Perley +9
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Scientific Research and Discoveries
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2308.05805
openalex publication_date 2023/08/10 · openalex created_date 2023/08/15 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present results of a wideband high-resolution polarization study of Hydra A, one of the most luminous FR I radio galaxies known and amongst the most well-studied. The radio emission from this source displays extremely large Faraday rotation measures (RM), ranging from -12300 rad m-2 to 5000 rad m-2, the majority of which are believed to originate from magnetized thermal gas external to the radio tails. The radio emission from both tails strongly depolarizes with decreasing frequency. The depolarization, as a function of wavelength, is commonly non-monotonic, often showing oscillatory behavior, with strongly non-linear rotation of the polarization position angle with λ2. A simple model, based on the RM screen derived from the high frequency, high resolution data, predicts the lower frequency depolarization remarkably well. The success of this model indicates the majority of the depolarization can be attributed to fluctuations in the magnetic field on scales < 1500 pc, suggesting the presence of turbulent magnetic field/electron density structures on sub-kpc scales within a Faraday rotating (FR) medium.