The MURALES survey

Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 645, pp. A12

Abstract

We present the final observations of a complete sample of 37 radio galaxies from the Third Cambridge Catalogue (3C) with redshift < 0.3 and declination < 20° obtained with the VLT/MUSE optical integral field spectrograph. These data were obtained as part of the MUse RAdio Loud Emission line Snapshot (MURALES) survey with the main goal of exploring the AGN feedback process in the most powerful radio sources. We present the data analysis and, for each source, the resulting emission line images and the 2D gas velocity field. Thanks to the unprecedented depth these observations reveal emission line regions (ELRs) extending several tens of kiloparsec in most objects. The gas velocity shows ordered rotation in 25 galaxies, but in several sources it is highly complex. We find that the 3C sources show a connection between radio morphology and emission line properties. In the ten FR I sources the line emission region is generally compact, only a few kpc in size; only in one case does it exceed the size of the host. Conversely, all but two of the FR II galaxies show large-scale structures of ionized gas. The median extent is 16 kpc with the maximum reaching a size of ∼80 kpc. There are no apparent differences in extent or strength between the ELR properties of the FR II sources of high and low gas excitation. We confirm that the previous optical identification of 3C 258 is incorrect: this radio source is likely associated with a quasi-stellar object at z ∼ 1.54.

Authors 15

1. B. Balmaverde

   Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino

   Affiliation as printed

   INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy

2. A. Capetti

   Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino

   Affiliation as printed

   INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy

3. ALESSANDRO MARCONI

   Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory · University of Florence

   Affiliation as printed

   Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Firenze, Via G. Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy

   INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy

4. Giacomo Venturi

   Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile · Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory

   Affiliation as printed

   INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy

   Instituto de Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22, Chile

5. M. Chiaberge

   Space Telescope Science Institute · Johns Hopkins University

   Affiliation as printed

   Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

   Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21210, USA

6. Ranieri Diego Baldi

   Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna

   Affiliation as printed

   INAF – Istituto di Radioastronomia, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy

7. Stefi Alison Baum

   University of Manitoba

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada

8. R. Gilli

   Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio

   Affiliation as printed

   INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy

9. P. Grandi

   Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio

   Affiliation as printed

   INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy

10. Eileen T. Meyer

    University of Maryland, Baltimore County

    Affiliation as printed

    University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA

11. GEORGE K. MILEY Aachen Leiden Observatory

    Leiden University · Leiden Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

12. C. P. O’Dea

    University of Manitoba

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada

13. William B. Sparks

    Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

    Affiliation as printed

    SETI Institute, 189 N. Bernado Ave, Mountain View CA, 94043, USA

14. E. Torresi

    Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio

    Affiliation as printed

    INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy

15. Grant R Tremblay

    Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

    Affiliation as printed

    Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA