radio galaxy
A radio galaxy is a galaxy with giant regions of radio emission extending well beyond its visible structure. These energetic radio lobes are powered by jets from its active galactic nucleus. They have luminosities up to 1039 W at radio wav ...
located in the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The first constellati ...
redshift
In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and increase in frequency and e ...
of 0.021258, the galaxy is about away. It has an
angular separation
Angular distance or angular separation is the measure of the angle between the orientation of two straight lines, rays, or vectors in three-dimensional space, or the central angle subtended by the radii through two points on a sphere. When t ...
of from the
blazar
A blazar is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a relativistic jet (a jet composed of ionized matter traveling at nearly the speed of light) directed very nearly towards an observer. Relativistic beaming of electromagnetic radiation from the ...
3C 66A
3C 66A is a blazar located in the constellation Andromeda.
The "distance" of a far away galaxy depends on the distance measurement used. With a redshift of 0.444, light from this active galaxy is estimated to have taken around 4.5 billion year ...
, but the two are most likely unrelated. 3C 66B is an outlying member of Abell 347, which is part of the
Perseus–Pisces Supercluster
The Perseus–Pisces Supercluster (SCl 40) is one of the largest known structures in the universe. Even at a distance of 250 million light-years, this chain of galaxy clusters extends more than 40° across the northern winter sky. The Perseus– ...
.
Observations
This is a giant elliptical galaxy that is classified as a low-luminosity Fanaroff and Riley class 1 radio galaxy. Maps of the radio structure suggested that the emission is being shaped by the motion of the galaxy through an ambient medium. A strong jet and counter-jet extend about from the nucleus. These jets have been observed in radio, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray
bands Bands may refer to:
* Bands (song), song by American rapper Comethazine
* Bands (neckwear), form of formal neckwear
* Bands (Italian Army irregulars)
Bands () was an Italian military term for Irregular military, irregular forces, composed of nati ...
.Gamma ray emission has been detected coming from the direction of this galaxy, which were most likely emitted from the core region.
Observations with the
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...
in 1990 showed that the jet has a filamentary, double-stranded structure. When viewed in the optical, the northern jet shows four knots along its length, all of which are polarized, thus indicating a
synchrotron
A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...
basis.
Very-long-baseline interferometry
Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) is a type of astronomical interferometry used in radio astronomy. In VLBI a signal from an astronomical radio source, such as a quasar, is collected at multiple radio telescopes on Earth or in space. T ...
measurements of the galaxy's radio-emitting core demonstrated elliptical motion with a period of . This strongly suggested that a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) was located at the center of 3C 66B. This motion was expected to emit
gravitational wave
Gravitational waves are oscillations of the gravitational field that Wave propagation, travel through space at the speed of light; they are generated by the relative motion of gravity, gravitating masses. They were proposed by Oliver Heaviside i ...
s that would cause fluctuations in the pulse arrival times from the pulsar PSR B1855+09. However, no such signature was found. Numerical simulations indicated this detection method may only be valid for an
orbital eccentricity
In astrodynamics, the orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a dimensionless parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle. A value of 0 is a circular orbit, values be ...
below 0.03.
Messier 87
Messier 87 (also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486, generally abbreviated to M87) is a Type-cD galaxy, supergiant elliptical galaxy, elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo (constellation), Virgo that contains several trillion s ...
(M87), about 55 million light-years away, is the largest giant elliptical galaxy near the Earth, and also contains an
active galactic nucleus
An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that emits a significant amount of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, with characteristics indicating that this luminosity is not produced by the stars. Such e ...