The dynamics of the giant radio galaxy 3C 457

Abstract

We present multifrequency radio observations with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and Very Large Array, and X-ray observations with the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM–Newton) telescope of the giant radio source (GRS) 3C 457. We have detected the core, lobes and the environment of the GRS in X-ray. We examine the relationships between the radio and X-ray emission, determine the radio spectrum over a large frequency range and attribute the X-ray emission from the lobes to the inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons. The magnetic field strength of the lobes is very close to the equipartition value. Both the lobes are in pressure balance near the hotspots and apparently underpressured towards the core. The X-ray spectrum of the core of the GRS consists of an unabsorbed soft power-law component and a heavily absorbed hard power-law component. The soft unabsorbed component is likely to be related to the radio jets. There is no strong evidence of Fe Kα emission line in our data.