Collimation of the kiloparsec-scale radio jets in NGC 2663
Salvato, M.; Nandra, K.; Filipović, M. D.; Velović, Velibor; Rowell, G.; Grupe, D.; Norris, R. P.; Andernach, H.; Carretti, E.; Collier, J. D.; Koribalski, B. S.; Whiting, M.; Jarrett, T.; Waddell, S. G. H.; Reiprich, T. H.; Tremblay, C. D.; Einecke, S.; Rudnick, L.; Galvin, T. J.; Marvil, J.; Heald, G.; Hotan, A.; Shabala, S. S.; Barnes, L.; Pannuti, T. G.; Titov, O.; Manojlović, P.; Alsaberi, R. Z. E.
Australia, United States, Mexico, Germany, South Africa, Italy
Abstract
We present the discovery of highly collimated radio jets spanning a total of 355 kpc around the nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 2663, and the possible first detection of recollimation on kiloparsec scales. The small distance to the galaxy (~28.5 Mpc) allows us to resolve portions of the jets to examine their structure. We combine multiwavelength data: radio observations by the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), and X-ray data from Chandra, Swift, and SRG/eROSITA. We present intensity, rotation measure, polarization, spectral index, and X-ray environment maps. Regions of the southern jet show simultaneous narrowing and brightening, which can be interpreted as a signature of the recollimation of the jet by external, environmental pressure, though it is also consistent with intermittent active galactic nuclei or complex internal jet structure. X-ray data suggest that the environment is extremely poor; if the jet is indeed recollimating, the large recollimation scale (40 kpc) is consistent with a slow jet in a low-density environment.