BIMA millimeter-wave observations of the core-jet and molecular gas in the FR I radio galaxy NGC 3801
Date
2005-08-20Author
Das, Mousumi
Vogel, Stuart
Kleijn, Gijs
O’Dea, Christopher
Baum, Stefi
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
We present BIMA 3 mm observations of the radio continuum source and the
molecular gas disk in the radio loud Fanaroff & Riley Type I (FR I) galaxy NGC
3801. We have detected a continuum source in the nucleus and determined that it
has a flat millimeter-wave spectrum, suggesting that the emission is non-thermal
and due to an AGN; the radio core is not evident in existing VLA observations.
We also map the extended 3 mm emission from the previously known radio jets.
In addition, we detect CO (1–0) emission associated with the dust disk observed
in previous HST images. A velocity gradient is observed, indicating a two kpc
radius rotating gas ring or disk oriented roughly perpendicular to the radio jets.
The inferred molecular gas mass of the disk is M(H2) = 3×108M⊙, about 1% of
the dynamical mass. We also find a 108 M⊙ molecular gas clump not associated
with the gas disk. There is evidence that this gas is associated with a merger and
is infalling. This suggests that FR I type activity is related to merger activity, as
is thought to be the case for FR II type radio galaxies. We also find indications
that one of the radio jets is entraining gas from the infalling molecular gas (Refer to PDF file for exact formulas).
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The extended blue continuum and line emission around the Central Radio Galaxy in Abell 2597
Koekemoer, Anton; O'Dea, Christopher; Sarazin, Craig; McNamara, Brian; Donahue, Megan; Voit, G. Mark; Baum, Stefi; Gallimore, Jack (American Astronomical Society, 1999-11-10)We present results from detailed imaging of the centrally dominant radio elliptical galaxy in the cooling flow cluster Abell 2597, using data obtained with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on the Hubble Space ...