Using radio jets of PKS J0334-3900 to probe the intra-cluster medium in A3135

Abstract

We present a multi-wavelength study of the radio galaxy PKS J0334-3900, which resides at the centre of Abell 3135. Using Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) observations at 1.4, 2.5, 4.6 & 8.6 GHz, we performed a detailed analysis of PKS J0334-3900. The morphology and spectral indices give physical parameters that constrain the dynamical history of the galaxy, which we use to produce a simulation of PKS J0334-3900. This simulation shows that the morphology can be generated by a wind in the intracluster medium (ICM), orbital motion caused by a companion galaxy, and precession of the black hole (BH).

Additionally, ATCA polarisation data was used to obtain rotation measure values along the line of sight to PKS J0334-3900. Using our simulation we are able to infer the distance between the jets along the line of sight to be 154 ± 16 kpc, which when combined with the difference in rotation measure between the jets provides a novel new way to estimate the average magnetic field within the cluster. A lower limit to the cluster magnetic field was calculated to be 0.09±0.03 μG. We have shown that different techniques can be applied to observations of jets in galaxies to infer information on cluster environments.