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LOFAR, VLA, and Chandra observations of the Toothbrush Galaxy Cluster

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)
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  1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Bologna (Italy)
  3. Hamburger Sternwarte (Germany)
  4. Leiden Univ. (Netherlands); Netherlands Inst. for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo (Netherlands); Univ. of Hertfordshire, Hatfield (United Kingdom)
  5. Leiden Univ. (Netherlands)
  6. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  7. Hamburger Sternwarte (Germany); Leiden Univ. (Netherlands)
  8. Univ. of Hertfordshire, Hatfield (United Kingdom)
  9. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
  10. Univ. of Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom)
  11. Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (United States)
  12. Jagiellonian Univ., Krakow (Poland)
  13. Univ. of Southampton (United Kingdom)
  14. Netherlands Inst. for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
  15. Max Planck Society, Garching (Germany). Max Planck Inst. for Astrophysics
  16. Leiden Univ. (Netherlands); National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro, NM (United States)
  17. Netherlands Inst. for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo (Netherlands); Kapteyn Astronomical Inst., Groningen (Netherlands)
  18. Thuringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, (Germany)
  19. Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Onsala (Sweden)
  20. Oxford Astrophysics (United Kingdom); Univ. of Western Cape, Bellville (South Africa)
  21. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States); Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)
  22. Inst. of Space and Astronautical Science, Kanagawa (Japan)
  23. Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Oxford (United Kingdom). Rutherford Appleton Lab. (RAL); The Open Univ., Milton Keynes (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
We present deep LOFAR observations between 120 {181 MHz of the `Toothbrush' (RX J0603.3+4214), a cluster that contains one of the brightest radio relic sources known. Our LOFAR observations exploit a new and novel calibration scheme to probe 10 times deeper than any previous study in this relatively unexplored part of the spectrum. The LOFAR observations, when combined with VLA, GMRT, and Chandra X-ray data, provide new information about the nature of cluster merger shocks and their role in re-accelerating relativistic particles. We derive a spectral index of α = -0:8±0:1 at the northern edge of the main radio relic, steepening towards the south to α ≈ -2. The spectral index of the radio halo is remarkably uniform (α = -1:16, with an intrinsic scatter of ≤ 0:04). The observed radio relic spectral index gives a Mach number of M = 2:8+0:5 -0:3, assuming diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). However, the gas density jump at the northern edge of the large radio relic implies a much weaker shock (M≈1:2, with an upper limit ofM≈1:5). The discrepancy between the Mach numbers calculated from the radio and X-rays can be explained if either (i) the relic traces a complex shock surface along the line of sight, or (ii) if the radio relic emission is produced by a re-accelerated population of fossil particles from a radio galaxy. Our results highlight the need for additional theoretical work and numerical simulations of particle acceleration and re-acceleration at cluster merger shocks.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1430947
Report Number(s):
LLNL--JRNL-676706
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal (Online) Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 818; ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Particle Acceleration on Megaparsec Scales in a Merging Galaxy Cluster text January 2010
A double radio relic in the merging galaxy cluster ZwCl 0008.8+5215 text January 2011
Re-acceleration of Nonthermal Particles at Weak Cosmological Shock Waves text January 2011
First LOFAR observations at very low frequencies of cluster-scale non-thermal emission: the case of Abell 2256 text January 2012
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Giant radio relics in galaxy clusters: reacceleration of fossil relativistic electrons? text January 2013
Challenges to our understanding of radio relics: X-ray observations of the Toothbrush cluster text January 2013
Discovery of spectral curvature in the shock downstream region: CIZA J2242.8+5301 text January 2013
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Deep radio observations of the radio halo of the bullet cluster 1E 0657-55.8 text January 2014
No Shock Across Part of a Radio Relic in the Merging Galaxy Cluster ZwCl 2341.1+0000? text January 2014
The first Murchison Widefield Array low frequency radio observations of cluster scale non-thermal emission: the case of Abell 3667 text January 2014
A moving cold front in the intergalactic medium of A3667 text January 2000
Particle reacceleration in Coma cluster: radio properties and hard X-ray emission text January 2000
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A Textbook Example of a Bow Shock in the Merging Galaxy Cluster 1E0657-56 text January 2001
Constraining the population of cosmic ray protons in cooling flow clusters with gamma-ray and radio observations: Are radio mini-halos of hadronic origin? text January 2003
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Cited By (53)

Diffuse Radio Emission from Galaxy Clusters journal February 2019
Fundamental physics with the Square Kilometre Array journal January 2020
The case for electron re-acceleration at galaxy cluster shocks journal January 2017
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey: I. Survey description and preliminary data release⋆ journal February 2017
The two-component giant radio halo in the galaxy cluster Abell 2142 journal July 2017
New giant radio sources and underluminous radio halos in two galaxy clusters journal January 2018
The supernova-regulated ISM: III. Generation of vorticity, helicity, and mean flows journal March 2018
The spectacular cluster chain Abell 781 as observed with LOFAR, GMRT, and XMM-Newton journal February 2019
A LOFAR study of non-merging massive galaxy clusters journal February 2019
Radio observations of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520 journal February 2019
Exploring the properties of low-frequency radio emission and magnetic fields in a sample of compact galaxy groups using the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) journal February 2019
Ultra-steep spectrum emission in the merging galaxy cluster Abell 1914 journal February 2019
Characterizing the radio emission from the binary galaxy cluster merger Abell 2146 journal February 2019
A shock front at the radio relic of Abell 2744 journal June 2016
A $\mathcal {M}\gtrsim 3$ shock in ‘El Gordo’ cluster and the origin of the radio relic journal August 2016
A plethora of diffuse steep spectrum radio sources in Abell 2034 revealed by LOFAR journal March 2016
Deep LOFAR observations of the merging galaxy cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301 journal June 2017
Mystery solved: discovery of extended radio emission in the merging galaxy cluster Abell 2146 journal December 2017
LOFAR discovery of a double radio halo system in Abell 1758 and radio/X-ray study of the cluster pair journal May 2018
Understanding the radio spectral indices of galaxy cluster relics by superdiffusive shock acceleration journal June 2018
A study of spectral curvature in the radio relic in Abell 4038 using the uGMRT journal August 2018
Long-term FRII jet evolution: clues from three-dimensional simulations journal October 2018
Search for low-frequency diffuse radio emission around a shock in the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0744.9+3927 journal February 2018
Shocks and cold fronts in merging and massive galaxy clusters: new detections with Chandra journal March 2018
A massive cluster at z = 0.288 caught in the process of formation: The case of Abell 959 journal May 2019
Mystery solved: discovery of extended radio emission in the merging galaxy cluster Abell 2146 text January 2018
Chandra and JVLA Observations of HST Frontier Fields Cluster MACS J0717.5+3745 journal January 2017
VLA Radio Observations of the HST Frontier Fields Cluster Abell 2744: The Discovery of New Radio Relics journal August 2017
Deep VLA Observations of the Cluster 1RXS J0603.3+4214 in the Frequency Range of 1–2 GHz journal January 2018
Multi-phenomena Modeling of the New Bullet-like Cluster ZwCl 008.8+52 Using N -body/Hydrodynamical Simulations journal July 2018
Deep Very Large Array Observations of the Merging Cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301: Continuum and Spectral Imaging journal September 2018
Evidence for a Merger-induced Shock Wave in ZwCl 0008.8+5215 with Chandra and Suzaku journal March 2019
Electron Preacceleration in Weak Quasi-perpendicular Shocks in High-beta Intracluster Medium journal May 2019
Interactions between Radio Galaxies and Cluster Shocks. I. Jet Axes Aligned with Shock Normals journal May 2019
The Filamentary Radio Lobes of the Seyfert–Starburst Composite Galaxy NGC 3079 journal October 2019
Turbulence Dynamo in the Stratified Medium of Galaxy Clusters journal September 2019
Shocked Narrow-angle Tail Radio Galaxies: Simulations and Emissions journal December 2019
LOFAR Discovery of a Radio Halo in the High-redshift Galaxy Cluster PSZ2 G099.86+58.45 journal August 2019
A $\mathcal{M}\gtrsim3$ shock in `El Gordo' cluster and the origin of the radio relic text January 2016
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey - I. Survey Description and Preliminary Data Release text January 2016
The Case for Electron Re-Acceleration at Galaxy Cluster Shocks text January 2017
The supernova-regulated ISM. III. Generation of vorticity, helicity and mean flows text January 2017
Deep LOFAR observations of the merging galaxy cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301 text January 2017
VLA Radio Observations of the HST Frontier Fields Cluster Abell 2744: The Discovery of New Radio Relics text January 2017
Search for low-frequency diffuse radio emission around a shock in the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0744.9+3927 text January 2018
LOFAR discovery of a double radio halo system in Abell 1758 and radio/X-ray study of the cluster pair text January 2018
A study of spectral curvature in the radio relic in Abell 4038 using the uGMRT text January 2018
Fundamental Physics with the Square Kilometre Array text January 2018
Ultra-steep spectrum emission in the merging galaxy cluster Abell 1914 text January 2018
Radio observations of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520 text January 2018
A Massive Cluster at z = 0.288 Caught in the Process of Formation: The Case of Abell 959 text January 2019
LOFAR discovery of a radio halo in the high-redshift galaxy cluster PSZ2 G099.86+58.45 text January 2019
Shocked Narrow-Angle Tail Radio Galaxies: Simulations and Emissions text January 2019

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