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Outer regions of galaxy clusters host radio megahaloes

Observations reveal the presence of large volumes of ionized gas surrounding four galaxy clusters. The properties of these ‘megahaloes’ are distinct from those of similar haloes near the clusters, implying different formation mechanisms.
  1. Kenda Knowles

    1. Kenda Knowles is at the Centre for Radio Astronomy Techniques and Technologies, Department of Physics and Electronics, Rhodes University, Makhanda, 6139, South Africa.

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Radio haloes are large sources of radio-frequency emission that are found at the centre of galaxy clusters. They are thought to be produced when electrons travelling at speeds comparable to that of light are accelerated by magnetic fields in the turbulence that arises when the clusters merge. The detection of haloes spanning areas of around one square megaparsec has grown substantially over the past decade1, thanks in part to the increased sensitivity of the present generation of telescopes. But now, in a paper in Nature, Cuciti et al.2 report large volumes of faint, diffuse radio emission — on a much larger scale — surrounding four known radio haloes. The findings suggest that electron-acceleration mechanisms occur much farther out in the cluster region than had been previously thought.

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Nature 609, 903-904 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02972-6

References

  1. van Weeren, R. J. et al. Space Sci. Rev. 215, 16 (2019).

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  2. Cuciti, V. et al. Nature 609, 911–914 (2022).

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  3. Cassano, R., Brunetti, G. & Venturi, T. J. Astrophys. Astron. 32, 519–527 (2011).

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  5. Knowles, K. et al. Astron. Astrophys. 657, A56 (2022).

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  6. de Gasperin, F. et al. Sci. Adv. 3, e1701634 (2017).

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  7. Venturi, T. et al. Astron. Astrophys. 603, A125 (2017).

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  8. Donnert, J., Dolag, K., Brunetti, G. & Cassano, R. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 429, 3564–3569 (2013).

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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