3C 459
Radio galaxy in the constellation Pisces
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3C 459 known as IRAS 23140+0348, is a radio galaxy located in the constellation Pisces. It is located 2.74 billion light years from Earth and is classified as a Seyfert 2 and LINER galaxy.[1]
| 3C 459 | |
|---|---|
The radio galaxy 3C 459. | |
| Observation data (J2000.0 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Pisces |
| Right ascension | 23h 16m 35.19s |
| Declination | +04° 05′ 18.29″ |
| Redshift | 0.220120 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 65,990 km/s |
| Distance | 2.742 Gly (840.7 Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 16.68 |
| Apparent magnitude (B) | 17.54 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | Sy2, N galaxy;BLRG, LINER |
| Size | 8.73 kiloparsecs (28,500 light-years) (diameter; 0.5-1.2 keV Chandra)[1] |
| Notable features | Radio galaxy |
| Other designations | |
| PGC 70899, IRAS 23140+0348, 4C +03.57, PKS 2314+03, NRAO 0709, TXS 2314+038 | |
Characteristics
3C 459 is categorized a Fanaroff-Riley class II radio galaxy.[2][3] Its luminosity at both radio and far infrared wavelengths is Lv(4.8 GHz) = 1026.4 W Hz−1 and vLv(60 μm) = 1012.2 L☉.[4] The host galaxy of 3C 459 is an elliptical galaxy with a disturbed outer morphology indicating a product of a galaxy merger.[4] It also has a young stellar population.[5][6]
3C 459 contains a triple radio structure, measuring a total extent of 29 kiloparsecs (kpc).[7] It consists of a radio core and two radio lobes separated by 40 kpc.[4] The radio core in 3C 459 has a compact steep radio spectrum with east and west extensions.[8] As for the lobes on the other hand, the western lobe is equally 5.5 times further from the nucleus,[7] while the eastern lobe is compact and more closer.[9] It is also indicated to be significantly depolarized by interstellar medium since only the western lobe shows strong polarization.[7]
According to follow-up observation by Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2014, 3C 459 shows X-ray emission properties. Although most X-ray emission originates from the radio core, a significant amount of it is found at larger angular separations from the core, surrounding the galaxy's lobes and radio jets.[10]
There is also detections of diffused nuclear emissions and a filamentary ionized gas structure in 3C 459 creating a single-sided triangular-shaped region with an outward expansion of up to ~ 80 kpc. In its central emission line region, it is dominated by two compact knots of similar flux. Both of them are found to have an offset of ~ 400 km s-1 from velocity point of view suggesting a dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) system in 3C 459.[11]