MIGHTEE: are giant radio galaxies more common than we thought?

Author:

Delhaize J1ORCID,Heywood I234ORCID,Prescott M5ORCID,Jarvis M J26ORCID,Delvecchio I78ORCID,Whittam I H26ORCID,White S V3ORCID,Hardcastle M J9ORCID,Hale C L10ORCID,Afonso J1112ORCID,Ao Y1314ORCID,Brienza M1516ORCID,Brüggen M17ORCID,Collier J D1819ORCID,Daddi E7ORCID,Glowacki M56,Maddox N20ORCID,Morabito L K21ORCID,Prandoni I16ORCID,Randriamanakoto Z22,Sekhar S51823ORCID,An Fangxia5ORCID,Adams N J2,Blyth S1ORCID,Bowler R A A2ORCID,Leeuw L6ORCID,Marchetti L116ORCID,Randriamampandry S M2224,Thorat K1825ORCID,Seymour N26ORCID,Smirnov O34ORCID,Taylor A R518ORCID,Tasse C272829,Vaccari M516ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa

2. Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK

3. Department of Physics and Electronics, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Makhanda 6140, South Africa

4. South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, 2 Fir Street, Black River Park, Observatory, Cape Town 7925, South Africa

5. Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Road, 7535 Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa

6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Road, 7535 Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa

7. CEA, IRFU, DAp, AIM, Université Paris-Saclay, Université de Paris, CNRS, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

8. INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via Brera 28, I-20121 Milano, Italy

9. Centre for Astrophysics Research, Department of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK

10. CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, PO Box 1130, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia

11. Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade de Lisboa, OAL, Tapada da Ajuda, P-1349-018 Lisboa, Portugal

12. Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício C8, Campo Grande PT1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal

13. Purple Mountain Observatory and Key Laboratory for Radio Astronomy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 8 Yuanhua Road, 210034, Nanjing, China

14. School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China

15. Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universitá di Bologna, via P. Gobetti 93/2, I-40129 Bologna, Italy

16. INAF, Istituto di Radioastronomia, Via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy

17. Hamburger Sternwarte, University of Hamburg, Gojenbergsweg 112, D-21029 Hamburg, Germany

18. The Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa

19. School of Science, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia

20. Faculty of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Scheinerstr 1, D-81679 Munich, Germany

21. Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK

22. South African Astronomical Observatory, PO Box 9, Observatory 7935, Cape Town, South Africa

23. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801, USA

24. A&A, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Antananarivo, B.P. 906, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar

25. Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa

26. International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia

27. GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92190 Meudon, France

28. Centre for Radio Astronomy Techniques and Technologies, Department of Physics and Electronics, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa

29. USN, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, PSL, UO, Nançay, 18330, France

Abstract

ABSTRACT We report the discovery of two new giant radio galaxies (GRGs) using the MeerKAT International GHz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) survey. Both GRGs were found within a ${\sim}1\,$ deg2 region inside the COSMOS field. They have redshifts of z = 0.1656 and z = 0.3363 and physical sizes of 2.4 and 2.0 Mpc, respectively. Only the cores of these GRGs were clearly visible in previous high-resolution Very Large Array observations, since the diffuse emission of the lobes was resolved out. However, the excellent sensitivity and uv coverage of the new MeerKAT telescope allowed this diffuse emission to be detected. The GRGs occupy an unpopulated region of radio power – size parameter space. Based on a recent estimate of the GRG number density, the probability of finding two or more GRGs with such large sizes at z < 0.4 in a ${\sim}1\,$ deg2 field is only 2.7 × 10−6, assuming Poisson statistics. This supports the hypothesis that the prevalence of GRGs has been significantly underestimated in the past due to limited sensitivity to low surface brightness emission. The two GRGs presented here may be the first of a new population to be revealed through surveys like MIGHTEE that provide exquisite sensitivity to diffuse, extended emission.

Funder

Neurosciences Research Foundation

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics

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