Chandra X-ray image of SPT-CLJ237-5942 in the 0.5 to 2.0 Kev band, smoothed at 12 Arcsec. The Gaussian smoothing nucleus FWHM is indicated in the lower left corner. The Halo Radio show is indicated in the form of white contours. Credit: arxiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550 / Arxiv. 2009.08062
Using the Meerkat radiotelescope, an international team of astronomers made observations of a cluster of galaxies designated SPT-CLJ237-5942. The observation campaign revealed the presence of an ultra-specific spectrum halo in this cluster. The conclusion is presented in an article published on September 9 on the arxiv pre -printed server.
Radio halos are huge diffuse radio emission regions, generally found in massive galaxy clusters centers. They have a regular morphology which tends to retrace the intracluster environment emitting turbulent X -rays (ICM).
In general, radio halos have a very low surface brightness, especially at GHz frequencies, which makes them difficult to detect. Their brightness increases at lower frequencies, revealing the presence of these regions.
Some of them are ultra-steep (URSSS) spectrum halos, which can only be produced by turbulent reactive. Consequently, finding new USSR could shed more light on the effectiveness of particle reactive and the role of mergers in clusters.
Now, a group of astronomers led by Isaac S. Magolego of the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, reports the detection of a new Halo Radio of this type. The new USSRH has been identified in the Galaxy Cluster SPT-CLJ2337-5942, as part of the investigation into the Meerkat-South pole telescopes.
“We have identified the diffuse source through a systematic manual search for radio broadcast extended in the sample of 89 clusters of SPTPOL galaxies which are in the Meerkat-Spt 100 degrees2 Field, “The researchers wrote in the newspaper.
The image of the UHF Meerkat band revealed a prolonged broadcast program with a complex morphology, detected with great confidence in the center of SPT-CLJ2337-5942. The largest linear size of this program was measured at around 2.6 million light years at 816 MHz.
According to the study, the new Halo Radio has an integrated spectral index of 1.76 (at 578–986 MHz), therefore significantly more steep than that provided by the Hadronic models, which points to an ongoing reactive of the particles. The Halo radio power at 1.4 GHz was measured at 960 ZW / Hz, therefore relatively low compared to other radio halos.
By analyzing the data, astronomers have also found a striking spatial correlation between the broadcast radio broadcast of the SPT-CLJ237−5942 filament type and the light of X-rays. This suggests a direct link between the thermal ICM electrons, non-thermal electrons and magnetic cluster fields.
Summarizing the results, the authors of the article stressed that the Halo Radio in SPT-CLJ2337−5942 is the highest in the USSRH discovered so far and could therefore be crucial to advance our knowledge of the Halo Radio training models. They hope that future observations with the square kilometer table (SKA), as well as low frequency surveys in progress such as Meerkat-SPT, will bring more high-shift USSSS detections.
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More information:
Isaac S. Magolego et al, Discovery of Az ~ 0.8 Ultra Ravel Spectrum Radio Halo in the Meerkat-South pole telescope, arxiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550 / Arxiv. 2009.08062
Newspaper information:
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