Pune, India — An Indian team of radio astronomers has announced the groundbreaking discovery of 34 new giant radio sources (GRSs), leveraging data from the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS) Alternative Data Release 1 at 150 MHz. This remarkable finding, led by two Ph.D. students and their mentors, introduces some of the best-known GRSs to date, with two particular discoveries pushing the boundaries of previously accepted theories regarding their environments.
GRSs are colossal structures driven by supermassive black holes located at the centers of their host galaxies. These supermassive black holes, with masses ranging from ten million to a billion times that of the Sun, ionize the surrounding matter and create powerful electromagnetic forces. These forces propel material outward, forming jets of hot plasma and vast lobes of radio emission that can extend millions of light years.
The sheer size and rarity of GRSs continue to baffle astronomers, who are keen to understand the factors contributing to their enormous growth. The discovery was facilitated by the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), situated near Khodad village, approximately 90 km north of Pune, India. The GMRT, constructed and operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), covered about 90% of the sky at 150 MHz between 2010 and 2012, providing crucial data for these findings.
The discovery team comprises Ph.D. students Netai Bhukta from Sidho Kanho Birsha University (SKBU), India, and Souvik Manik from Midnapore College Centre (MCC), India, along with astronomers Sabyasachi Pal from MCC and Sushanta K. Mondal from SKBU. Their study utilized the TGSS data’s low frequencies and the GMRT’s sensitivity, enabling the identification of 34 GRSs.
Giant radio sources are likely the largest single structures in the universe, with some extending millions of light years from end to end. These structures are believed to represent the final stage in the evolution of radio galaxies, making them valuable for studying the evolution of radio sources and the intergalactic medium. However, detecting GRSs is challenging due to the faint bridge emission often hidden between their two lobes. Low-frequency surveys like TGSS are particularly well-suited for uncovering these structures compared to high-frequency surveys.
Two of the newly discovered GRSs, J0843+0513 and J1138+4540, pose significant challenges to the idea that GRSs only grow in low-density environments. The research team acknowledges that environmental factors alone do not dictate the size of giant radio galaxies (GRGs). Future studies incorporating new samples and detailed physical properties, based on multi-wavelength observations, are proposed to further explore this phenomenon.
This significant discovery has been published in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series of the American Astronomical Society, highlighting its importance in advancing our understanding of the universe’s largest structures.
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