CosmoDRAGoN III: Shaping the Afterlife -- How Progenitors and Environments Sculpt Radio Galaxy Remnants
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866911670814638080 |
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| author | Stewart, Georgia S. C. Shabala, Stanislav S. Yates-Jones, Patrick M. Turner, Ross J. Morganti, Raffaella Krause, Martin G. H. Wong, O. Ivy Power, Chris Hardcastle, Martin J. |
| author_facet | Stewart, Georgia S. C. Shabala, Stanislav S. Yates-Jones, Patrick M. Turner, Ross J. Morganti, Raffaella Krause, Martin G. H. Wong, O. Ivy Power, Chris Hardcastle, Martin J. |
| contents | Identifying remnant radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is challenging due to their diverse morphological and spectral characteristics. Using three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of 15 radio galaxies, we investigate how the spectral evolution of remnants depends on progenitor power, active lifetime, environment, and underlying dynamics. The simulations span low-density group and high-density cluster environments re-gridded from smooth-particle-hydrodynamic cosmological simulations. The resulting remnants exhibit a wide range of morphologies, from amorphous structures to double-lobed forms. We find that jet power correlates with the spectral slope. As the remnant lobes evolve, we find surface brightness depends strongly on environment: group remnants are systematically dimmer and more amorphous than cluster remnants, highlighting a potential observational bias against these low-surface-brightness sources. In our models, we estimate that the peak surface brightness of a low-redshift, 50 Myr-old remnant from a low-power progenitor in a 10^{13} M_sun group environment should be routinely detectable at the 3σ level with LOFAR, although 20-30% of the emission would remain undetectable within a reasonable integration time. We find young remnants exhibit low-frequency (150-1400 MHz) spectral indices that overlap with active sources, and follow a consistent and established spectral-evolution sequence: significant curvature (α_{1400}^{6000} - α_{150}^{1400} > 0.5) develops before an ultra-steep low-frequency index (α_{150}^{1400} > 1.2). The results presented in this work are intended as a reference point for current and upcoming low-frequency studies of radio remnants. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_10156 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | CosmoDRAGoN III: Shaping the Afterlife -- How Progenitors and Environments Sculpt Radio Galaxy Remnants Stewart, Georgia S. C. Shabala, Stanislav S. Yates-Jones, Patrick M. Turner, Ross J. Morganti, Raffaella Krause, Martin G. H. Wong, O. Ivy Power, Chris Hardcastle, Martin J. Astrophysics of Galaxies High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Identifying remnant radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is challenging due to their diverse morphological and spectral characteristics. Using three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of 15 radio galaxies, we investigate how the spectral evolution of remnants depends on progenitor power, active lifetime, environment, and underlying dynamics. The simulations span low-density group and high-density cluster environments re-gridded from smooth-particle-hydrodynamic cosmological simulations. The resulting remnants exhibit a wide range of morphologies, from amorphous structures to double-lobed forms. We find that jet power correlates with the spectral slope. As the remnant lobes evolve, we find surface brightness depends strongly on environment: group remnants are systematically dimmer and more amorphous than cluster remnants, highlighting a potential observational bias against these low-surface-brightness sources. In our models, we estimate that the peak surface brightness of a low-redshift, 50 Myr-old remnant from a low-power progenitor in a 10^{13} M_sun group environment should be routinely detectable at the 3σ level with LOFAR, although 20-30% of the emission would remain undetectable within a reasonable integration time. We find young remnants exhibit low-frequency (150-1400 MHz) spectral indices that overlap with active sources, and follow a consistent and established spectral-evolution sequence: significant curvature (α_{1400}^{6000} - α_{150}^{1400} > 0.5) develops before an ultra-steep low-frequency index (α_{150}^{1400} > 1.2). The results presented in this work are intended as a reference point for current and upcoming low-frequency studies of radio remnants. |
| title | CosmoDRAGoN III: Shaping the Afterlife -- How Progenitors and Environments Sculpt Radio Galaxy Remnants |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.10156 |