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R. A. Daly, M. M. Chester (Penn State University)
The radio properties of a FRIIb radio source (an ultra powerful double radio source) can be used to predict the density and temperature of gas surrounding the radio source. Predictions of the density and temperature of gas around a radio source have been obtained using a model that includes synchrotron and inverse Compton aging of relativistic electrons. The model was applied to sources with redshifts between zero and two, and the results suggest that the FRIIb sources in the sample lie near the centers of clusters of galaxies, and are interacting with a gaseous medium similar to that found in low-redshift clusters of galaxies. If it could be demonstrated that predictions of the ambient gas density and temperature obtained using radio data alone are accurate, then this method could be extended to even higher redshift, allowing a probe of evolution of gas in clusters of galaxies to redshifts of three or four.
X-ray data are now available for several fields that include radio sources from the sample mentioned above. A detailed comparison between the ambient gas density obtained using radio data alone and that indicated by X-ray data will be presented for the seven sources known to be surrounded by extended X-ray emission. Preliminary results suggest that estimates of the ambient gas density obtained using radio data alone agree quite well with those obtained using X-ray data.
This research was supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: rdaly@psu.edu