The LOFAR HBA Virgo Cluster Survey

DOI

The Virgo cluster is the nearest (d=16.5Mpc) massive (M>=1*19^14^M_{sun}_) galaxy cluster and thus a prime target to study astrophysical processes in dense large-scale environments. In the radio band, we can probe the non-thermal components of the inter-stellar medium (ISM), intracluster-medium (ICM) and of active galactic nuclei (AGN). This allows an investigation of the impact of the environment on the evolution of galaxies and the contribution of AGN to the ICM-heating. With the ViCTORIA (Virgo Clustermulti-Telescope Observations in Radio of Interacting galaxies and AGN) project, we are carrying out multiple wide-field surveys of the Virgo cluster at different frequencies. We aim to investigate the impact of the environment on the evolution of galaxies and the contribution of AGN to the ICM-heating, from the inner cluster regions out to beyond the virial radius. We perform a survey of the cluster at 120-168MHz using the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR). We image a 132deg^2^ region of the cluster, reaching an order of magnitude greater sensitivity than existing wide-field radio surveys of this field at three times higher spatial resolution compared to other low-frequency observations. We developed a tailored data processing strategy to subtract the bright central radio galaxy M 87 from the data. This allowed us to correct for the systematic effects due to ionospheric variation as a function of time and direction. In the final mosaic with a resolution of 9"x5", we reach a median noise level of 140uJy/beam inside the virial radius and 280uJy/beam for the full area. We detect 112 Virgo member galaxies and 114 background galaxies. In at least 18 cases, the radio morphology of the cluster member galaxies shows clear signs of ram-pressure stripping. This includes three previously unreported candidates. In addition, we reveal for the first time 150kpc long tails from a previous epoch of AGN activity for NGC 4472 (M 49).While no cluster-scale diffuse radio sources are discovered, we find the presence of an extended radio signature of the W'-group. This feature is coincident with an X-ray filament detected with SRG/eROSITA in the outskirts of the cluster. We speculate that this emission is synchrotron radiation which could be related to shocks or turbulence from accretion processes. The data published in this paper serve as a valuable resource for future studies. In the follow-up work of the ViCTORIA project, we will rely on them for an analysis of environmental effects on the radio-properties of star-forming galaxies in Virgo.

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/676/A24/table3 (Catalog of Virgo cluster galaxies detected at 144MHz in the LOFAR HBA Virgo cluster survey, members)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/676/A24/table4 (Catalog of Virgo cluster galaxies detected at 144MHz in the LOFAR HBA Virgo cluster survey, background)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/676/A24/list (List of fits images)

Identifier
DOI http://doi.org/10.26093/cds/vizier.36760024
Source https://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/lp/custom/CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/676/A24
Related Identifier https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/676/A24
Related Identifier http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/676/A24
Metadata Access http://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/pmh/pubreg.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_b2find&identifier=ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/676/A24
Provenance
Creator Edler H.W.; de Gasperin F.; Shimwell T.W.; Hardcastle M.J.; Boselli A.,Heesen V.; McCall H.; Bomans D.J.; Brueggen M.; Bulbul E.; Chyzy K.T.,Ignesti A.; Merloni A.; Pacaud F.; Reiprich T.H.; Roberts I.D.,Rottgering H.J.A.; van Weeren R.J.
Publisher CDS
Publication Year 2023
Rights https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.html
OpenAccess true
Contact CDS support team <cds-question(at)unistra.fr>
Representation
Resource Type Dataset; AstroObjects
Discipline Astrophysics and Astronomy; Cosmology; Galactic and extragalactic Astronomy; Interstellar medium; Natural Sciences; Physics