Astronomers have discovered a new radio galaxy using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). The newly discovered galaxy, designated J0011+3217, exhibits special features such as a one-sided secondary lobe. The discovery was reported in a research paper published on the preprocessing server on June 21. arXiv.

Radio galaxies emit enormous amounts of radio waves from their central nuclei. Black holes at the centers of these galaxies accumulate gas and dust, creating high-energy jets that accelerate electrically charged particles to high speeds, visible in radio waves.

During its active phase (lasting up to 100 million years), a typical radio galaxy contains elements such as a nucleus, lobes, jets, and hot spots. However, after passing this phase, these signs of activity generally disappear as the active source galactic nucleus (AGN) shuts down and the galaxy enters what is known as a remnant or dying phase.

Now a team of astronomers led by Shobha Kumari from Midnapore City College in India has reported the discovery of such a radio galaxy with leaves.

“From the second release of the LOFAR Two-Meter Sky Survey (LoTSS DR2) data at 144 MHz, we detected a peculiar radio galaxy J0011+3217,” the researchers wrote in the study.

According to the paper, J0011+3217 is a giant radio galaxy with a single-sided secondary lobe and offset giant primary lobes. The newly discovered galaxy appears to be associated with the Abell 7 galaxy cluster.

LOFAR observations show that the secondary lobe has a linear dimension of about 2.77 million light-years, which corresponds to about 85% of the primary lobe. Such one-sided secondary lobes are extremely rare, as only a few have previously been detected in some X-like radio galaxies.

Astronomers emphasize the large size of the one-dimensional secondary lobe in J0011+3217 because such features are typically four times smaller than the primary lobes. Thus, a giant secondary lobe of the same size as J0011+3217 has not been observed in any other X-shaped radio galaxy.

The study also found that J0011+3217 has very little distortion or off-axis. This bending of the jet is more common in wide-angle tails (WATs). Called WATs, they are strong, twisted radio sources that are often associated with the dominant galaxy in a cluster or group.

In summary, the authors of the paper emphasize that further studies are needed to fully understand the properties of J0011+3217.

“We encourage further studies, including simulations and advanced optical observations, to measure detailed parameters and investigate the conditions under which this particular radio galaxy J0011+3217 formed,” the researchers said.