Minor-merger-induced Star Formation Rejuvenation in an Elliptical Radio-loud Quasar Host, 3C 59
We report a rare case where an elliptical radio-loud quasar host, 3C 59, rejuvenates star formation activity through minor mergers with its nearby satellite galaxies. The inferred star formation history of 3C 59 has shown significant star formation rejuvenation within the past 500 Myr, before which...
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| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada033 |
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| author | Yijun Wang Tao Wang Ke Xu Junjie Mao Yerong Xu Zheng Zhou |
| author_facet | Yijun Wang Tao Wang Ke Xu Junjie Mao Yerong Xu Zheng Zhou |
| author_sort | Yijun Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We report a rare case where an elliptical radio-loud quasar host, 3C 59, rejuvenates star formation activity through minor mergers with its nearby satellite galaxies. The inferred star formation history of 3C 59 has shown significant star formation rejuvenation within the past 500 Myr, before which it remained rather quiescent for most of the cosmic time. The three nearest satellite galaxies of 3C 59 exhibit significant morphological disturbances, and two of them present strong tidal tails pointing toward 3C 59. In addition, all the satellite galaxies within a projected distance of 200 kpc show low star formation activities. They also have systematically lower effective radius ( R _e ) than local late-type galaxies, while 3C 59 has significantly larger R _e than both early- and late-type galaxies. All these features suggest that ongoing minor mergers between 3C 59 and its nearby satellites could be causing gas to flow into 3C 59, which induces the star formation rejuvenation and possibly also triggers the quasar activity. The enormous power from the large-scale radio jet of 3C 59 may in turn help keep the halo hot, prevent gas cooling, and further reduce star formation in its satellite galaxies. These results provide important insights into the mass and size growth of central galaxies and star formation quenching of satellite galaxies in galaxy groups. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-56c6483237f44860a01cc13e23cb2d212025-02-06T10:48:19ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01980110710.3847/1538-4357/ada033Minor-merger-induced Star Formation Rejuvenation in an Elliptical Radio-loud Quasar Host, 3C 59Yijun Wang0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-7763Tao Wang1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2504-2421Ke Xu2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8046-984XJunjie Mao3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7557-9713Yerong Xu4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2523-5485Zheng Zhou5https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3060-1219School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University , 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China ; taowang@nju.edu.cn; Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nanjing University , Ministry of Education, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University , 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China ; taowang@nju.edu.cn; Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nanjing University , Ministry of Education, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University , 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China ; taowang@nju.edu.cn; Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nanjing University , Ministry of Education, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Astronomy, Tsinghua University , Haidian DS 100084 Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Astronomy and Physics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, Canada; Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisic—Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Palermo , Via U. La Malfa 153, I-90146 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People’s Republic of ChinaWe report a rare case where an elliptical radio-loud quasar host, 3C 59, rejuvenates star formation activity through minor mergers with its nearby satellite galaxies. The inferred star formation history of 3C 59 has shown significant star formation rejuvenation within the past 500 Myr, before which it remained rather quiescent for most of the cosmic time. The three nearest satellite galaxies of 3C 59 exhibit significant morphological disturbances, and two of them present strong tidal tails pointing toward 3C 59. In addition, all the satellite galaxies within a projected distance of 200 kpc show low star formation activities. They also have systematically lower effective radius ( R _e ) than local late-type galaxies, while 3C 59 has significantly larger R _e than both early- and late-type galaxies. All these features suggest that ongoing minor mergers between 3C 59 and its nearby satellites could be causing gas to flow into 3C 59, which induces the star formation rejuvenation and possibly also triggers the quasar activity. The enormous power from the large-scale radio jet of 3C 59 may in turn help keep the halo hot, prevent gas cooling, and further reduce star formation in its satellite galaxies. These results provide important insights into the mass and size growth of central galaxies and star formation quenching of satellite galaxies in galaxy groups.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada033Galaxy groupsGalaxy mergersRadio loud quasarsRadio lobesLenticular galaxiesElliptical galaxies |
| spellingShingle | Yijun Wang Tao Wang Ke Xu Junjie Mao Yerong Xu Zheng Zhou Minor-merger-induced Star Formation Rejuvenation in an Elliptical Radio-loud Quasar Host, 3C 59 The Astrophysical Journal Galaxy groups Galaxy mergers Radio loud quasars Radio lobes Lenticular galaxies Elliptical galaxies |
| title | Minor-merger-induced Star Formation Rejuvenation in an Elliptical Radio-loud Quasar Host, 3C 59 |
| title_full | Minor-merger-induced Star Formation Rejuvenation in an Elliptical Radio-loud Quasar Host, 3C 59 |
| title_fullStr | Minor-merger-induced Star Formation Rejuvenation in an Elliptical Radio-loud Quasar Host, 3C 59 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Minor-merger-induced Star Formation Rejuvenation in an Elliptical Radio-loud Quasar Host, 3C 59 |
| title_short | Minor-merger-induced Star Formation Rejuvenation in an Elliptical Radio-loud Quasar Host, 3C 59 |
| title_sort | minor merger induced star formation rejuvenation in an elliptical radio loud quasar host 3c 59 |
| topic | Galaxy groups Galaxy mergers Radio loud quasars Radio lobes Lenticular galaxies Elliptical galaxies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada033 |
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