Monster Radio Jet (>66 kpc) Observed in Quasar at z ∼ 5
We present the discovery of a large extended radio jet associated with the extremely radio-loud quasar J1601+3102 at z ∼ 5 from subarcsecond resolution imaging at 144 MHz with the International LOFAR Telescope. These large radio lobes have been argued to remain elusive at z > 4 due to ener...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9609 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | We present the discovery of a large extended radio jet associated with the extremely radio-loud quasar J1601+3102 at z ∼ 5 from subarcsecond resolution imaging at 144 MHz with the International LOFAR Telescope. These large radio lobes have been argued to remain elusive at z > 4 due to energy losses in the synchrotron emitting plasma as a result of scattering of the strong cosmic microwave background at these high redshifts. Nonetheless, the 0 $\mathop{.}\limits^{{\rm{^{\prime} }}{\rm{^{\prime} }}}$ 3 resolution radio image of J1601+3102 reveals a northern and a southern radio lobe located at 9 and 57 kpc from the optical quasar, respectively. The measured jet size of 66 kpc makes J1601+3102 the largest extended radio jet at z > 4 to date. However, it is expected to have an even larger physical size in reality due to projection effects brought about by the viewing angle. Furthermore, we observe the rest-frame UV spectrum of J1601+3102 with Gemini/GNIRS to examine its black hole properties, which results in a mass of 4.5 × 10 ^8 M _⊙ with an Eddington luminosity ratio of 0.45. The black hole mass is relatively low compared to the known high- z quasar population, which suggests that a high black hole mass is not strictly necessary to generate a powerful jet. This discovery of the first ∼100 kpc radio jet at z > 4 shows that these objects exist despite energy losses from inverse Compton scattering and can put invaluable constraints on the formation of the first radio-loud sources in the early Universe. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2041-8205 |