Ravi Subrahmanyan (Raman Research Institute)

On growth and form: the shapes of radio sources - Ravi Subrahmanyan Colloquium

ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre

Abstract

Extragalactic radio sources are creations of active galactic nuclei. Jets produced in the vicinity of the central super massive black holes interact with the ambient interstellar gas, coronal X-ray halo of the host elliptical, and intergalactic gas and these manifest in a diversity of shapes for the radio structures. The inertia in the ambient thermal gas, asymmetries in the ambient gas distributions, momentum in the flows of magnetized plasma and buoyancy are some of the mechanisms that give form to the growing radio sources. Episodic activity at the nucleus and
variations in the jet axis are also reflected in the radio structures. ATLBS and EMU-Deep imaging of the radio sky with good surface brightness
sensitivity opens windows to studies of these interaction physics at early times, revealing the influence of the environment on radio sources and the impact of AGN activity on the environment.