We are undertaking a detailed investigation, based on the available evidence, of the sequence of events that led to the historical discovery of the first quasar, 3C273.

Although the extragalactic nature of 3C 48 and other quasi stellar radio sources was discussed as early as 1960 by John Bolton and others, it was rejected largely because of preconceived ideas about what appeared to be unrealistically high radio and optical luminosities. Not until the 1962 occultations of the strong radio source 3C 273 at Parkes, which led Maarten Schmidt to identify 3C 273 with an apparent stellar object at a redshift of 0.16, was the true nature understood. Successive radio and optical measurements quickly led to the identification of other quasars with increasingly large redshifts and the general, although for some decades not universal, acceptance of quasars as the very luminous nuclei of galaxies.

Curiously, 3C 273, which is one of the strongest extragalactic sources in the sky, was first cataloged in 1959 and the magnitude 13 optical counterpart was observed at least as early as 1887. Since 1960, much fainter optical counterparts were being routinely identified using accurate radio interferometer positions which were measured primarily at the Caltech Owens Valley Radio Observatory. However, 3C 273 eluded identification until the series of lunar occultation observations led by Cyril Hazard. Although an accurate radio position had been obtained earlier with the OVRO interferometer, inexplicably 3C 273 was initially misidentified with a faint galaxy located about an arc minute away from the true quasar position.

We discuss some aspects of extragalactic jets originating from super massive black holes in the centres of active galaxies (and quasars). We start with a short review of sizes and flavors and then argue that the emission we detect across the electromagnetic spectrum does not come from the essence of the jet, but is rather a product of the jet. We go on to discuss some topics concerning synchrotron emission from jets, mainly aspects of knots. Finally we discuss the emission processes for the X-rays and describe a current experiment with LOFAR designed to test a requirement of inverse Compton models.

Results from Chandra-HST-VLA observations of 13 hybrid sources are presented. Data from ten sources in the literature are analysed along with new data from three hybrid blazars belonging to the MOJAVE sample. Studies of such hybrid sources displaying both FRI and FRII jet characteristics could provide the key to resolving the long-standing Fanaroff-Riley dichotomy issue. A majority of the 13 hybrid sources show FRII-like total radio powers, i.e., they are “hybrid” in radio morphology but not in total radio power. VLBI observations of ten of the 13 sources show that the X-ray jet is on the same side as the one-sided VLBI jet. X-rays are therefore emitted from relativistically-boosted approaching jets. This is consistent with the X-ray emission being IC/CMB in origin in the majority of sources. It is not completely clear from our study that asymmetries in the surrounding medium can create hybrid sources. Hybrid radio morphologies could also be indicative of intrinsically asymmetric jets.

We have completed a Chandra snapshot survey of 54 radio jets that are extended on arcsec scales. These are associated with flat spectrum radio quasars spanning a redshift range z=0.3 to 2.1. X-ray emission is detected from the jet of approximately 60% of the sample objects. We assume minimum energy and apply conditions consistent with the original Felten-Morrison calculations in order to estimate the Lorentz factors and the apparent Doppler factors. This allows estimates of the enthalpy fluxes, which turn out to be comparable to the radiative luminosities.

We present a multiwavelength study of the core and relativistic jet of the radio loud (RL) quasar RGB J1512+020A (z=0.20). We report the discovery of a bright, 13” extended X-ray jet with a short Chandra observation. We discuss the origin of the jet X-ray emission and its properties in comparison with sample of X-ray quasar jets. The broadband core spectrum is contributed by the emission of the central quasar, by a blazar component, responsible for the γ-ray emission detected by Fermi, and by the host galaxy. We model the non-thermal blazar spectral energy distribution (SED) and constrain the total jet power. The jet power inferred from the blazar SED modeling is in agreement with the values obtained from the total radio power, pointing to a jet that efficiently carries its power up to kiloparsec scales. The quasar emission appears intrinsically weak in the optical-UV band. The disk luminosity estimated from the broad emission lines is lower than the jet power, in agreement with recent results from observations and theory.

The correlation between radio spectral steepness and redshift has been successfully used to find high redshift (z ⩾ 2) radio galaxies, but the origin of this relation is unknown. The ultra-steep spectra of high-z radio sources make them ideally suited for studies with the Low Band Antenna of the new Low Frequency Array, which covers 10–80 MHz and has baselines up to about 1300 km. As part of an ongoing survey, we use the longest baselines to map the low-frequency (< 70 MHz) spatial distributions along the jets of 5 bright extended steep spectrum high-z radio sources. From this, we will determine whether the spectra change over these spatially resolved sources, thereby constraining particle acceleration processes. We present early results from our low-frequency survey of ultra-steep spectrum radio galaxies. The first low frequency long baseline images of these objects are presented.

Cygnus A, the nearest truly powerful radio galaxy, resides at the centre of a massive galaxy cluster. Chandra X-ray observations reveal its cocoon shocks, radio lobe cavities and an X-ray jet, which are discussed here. It is argued that X-ray emission from the outer regions of the cocoon shocks is nonthermal. The X-ray jets are best interpreted as synchrotron emission, suggesting that they, rather than the radio jets, are the path of energy flow from the nucleus to the hotspots. In that case, a model shows that the jet flow is non-relativistic and carries in excess of one solar mass per year.

Radio sources are divided into two distinct morphological groups of objects: Fanaroff-Riley type I and type II sources. There is a relatively sharp luminosity boundary between these at low frequency. The nature of the FR division is still an open issue, as are the details of the evolutionary process in which younger and smaller GHz-peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact steep spectrum (CSS) sources become large-scale radio structures. It is still unclear whether FRII objects evolve to become FRIs, or whether a division has already occurred amongst CSS sources and some of these then become FRIs and some FRIIs. We explored evolution scenarios of AGNs using new radio, optical and X-ray data of unstudied so far Low Luminosity Compact (LLC) sources. We suggest that the determining factors of the further evolution of compact radio objects could occur at subgalactic (or even nuclear) scales, or they could be related to the radio jet - interstellar medium (ISM) interactions and evolution. Our studies show that the evolutionary track could be related to the interaction, strength of the radio source and excitation levels of the ionized gas instead of the radio morphology of the young radio source.

Fast outflows of the ionized plasma, probably lunched in proximity of Supermassive Black Hole, are responsible for blue-shifted Broad Absorption Lines (BALs) in quasar spectrum. Outflows together with powerful jets produced in AGN are important feedback processes. Therefore, understanding physics behind BAL outflows might be a key to comprehend Galaxy Evolution as a whole. Discovery of the existence of radio-loud BAL quasars gave us another opportunity to study the BAL phenomenon, this time on the ground on radio emission. The radio emission is an additional tool to understand the BAL quasars, their orientation and age, by the VLBI imaging (detection of radio jets and their direction, size determination), the radio-loudness parameter distribution and variability study.

We present new, deep VLA 327 MHz, GALEX Far-UV, and Hα images of the inner ~50 kpc of Centaurus A. We find the structure identified by Morganti et al. 1999 as a possible “large scale jet” is part of a knotty, linear feature within a broader region of diffuse radio emission. The linear feature is coincident with a narrow ribbon of Far-UV and Hα emission that extends 6-35 kpc from the galaxy core, as well with a similar ridge of soft X-ray emission. The Far-UV image also shows that a strong starburst is occurring in the central dusty disk, with a star-formation rate of ~ 2M⊙ yr−1. We suggest that the various peculiar phenomena seen to the NE of the galaxy can be explained by a wind from the starburst disk, enhanced by energy input from the AGN.

Chandra revealed cavities in the hot atmospheres of many nearby clusters. These cavities are tracers of a strong coupling between the relativistic plasma in radio sources and the cooling, thermal gas in clusters. They demonstrate clearly that the AGN affects the cooling gas that leads to star formation and galaxy growth and allow a direct measurement of the bulk of the AGN's power. Together with radio data, the cavities allow us to derive scaling relations between mechanical (cavity) and radio power that can be used to estimate the AGN feedback power when direct measurement of the cavities is not possible. We review the importance of such relations for extending current studies of feedback with new and upcoming radio telescopes such as LOFAR and SKA.

Most X-ray studies of radio-mode feedback have concentrated on locally-abundant low-power radio sources in relatively rich cluster environments. But the scaling found between mechanical and radiative power, when combined with the radio luminosity function, means that half of the heating in the local Universe is expected from higher-power sources, which lie within a factor of about three of the FRI/II transition, and these sources encounter a wide range of atmosphere properties. We summarize what is observed at FRI/II transition powers from a complete sample observed with modest Chandra exposure times. We then discuss two systems with deep Chandra data. In one we find that the work done in driving shocks exceeds that in evacuating cavities. This source also displays a remarkable jet-cloud interaction, and revealing hotspot X-ray emission. In the second we find evidence of radio-emitting plasma running along boundaries between gas of different temperature, apparently lubricating the gas flows and inhibiting heat transfer, and itself being heavily structured by the process.

Due to its high angular resolution, the Chandra Observatory has allowed the discovery and detailed study of extragalactic X-ray jets. Although supermassive black holes are regularly found in the cores of massive galaxies and X-ray emission is detected from ~80% of these, X-ray and radio jets are only detected in a small fraction of “normal” galaxies. X-ray jets are either single-sided or double-sided and, with only one possible exception, are found to have radio emission. However many radio jets are not detected in current X-ray observations. The expanding jets produce cavities in the surrounding hot gas in the galaxy halos. By determining how much gas has been pushed out of these cavities, we can determine the mechanical energy and power of the jet.

There is mounting evidence that mechanical kinetic-mode AGN feedback is important in galaxy evolution, and in order to quantify this feedback, detailed models of radio source evolution are required. Self-similar analytic models exist for large powerful radio sources but the evolution of young precursor radio sources is not yet fully understood. In this talk we present a versatile dynamical and radiative model for young source evolution on sub-kiloparsec scales, which extends existing self-similar models into a more complete radio source evolutionary model. This semi-analytic model is successful in reproducing the strong spectral aging observed in compact symmetric objects.

We present results from deep Chandra X-ray observations of the galaxy group NGC 5813. This system shows three pairs of collinear cavities, with each pair associated with an elliptical AGN outburst shock. Due to the relatively regular morphology of this system, and the unique unambiguous detection of three distinct AGN outburst shocks, it is particularly well-suited for the study of AGN feedback and the AGN outburst history. We find that the mean kinetic power is roughly the same for each outburst, and that the total energy associated with the youngest outburst is significantly lower than that of the previous outbursts. This implies that the mean AGN jet power has remained stable for at least 50 Myr, and that the youngest outburst is ongoing. We find that the mean shock heating rate balances the local radiative cooling rate at each shock front, suggesting that AGN outburst shock heating alone is sufficient to offset cooling and establish AGN/ICM feedback within at least the central 30 kpc. Finally, we find non-zero shock front widths that are too large to be explained by particle diffusion, but are instead consistent with arising from broadening of the shock fronts due to propagation through a turbulent ICM with a mean turbulent speed of ~ 70 km s−1.

Massive gas outflows are considered a key component in the process of galaxy formation and evolution. Because of this, they are the topic of many studies aimed at learning more about their occurrence, location and physical conditions as well as the mechanism(s) at their origin. This contribution presents recent results on two of the best examples of jet-driven outflows traced by cold and molecular gas. Thanks to high-spatial resolution observations, we have been able to locate the region where the outflow occurs. This appears to be coincident with bright radio features and regions where the interaction between radio plasma jet and ISM is known to occur, thus strongly supporting the idea of jet-driven outflows. We have also imaged the distribution of the outflowing gas. The results clearly show the effect that expanding radio jets and lobes have on the ISM. This appears to be in good agreement with what predicted from numerical simulations. Furthermore, the results show that cold gas is associated with these powerful phenomena and can be formed - likely via efficient cooling - even after a strong interaction and fast shocks. The discovery of similar fast outflows of cold gas in weak radio sources is further increasing the relevance that the effect of the radio plasma can have on the surrounding medium and on the host galaxy.

The tight correlations observed between galaxies and their SMBH provides compelling evidence that the evolution of the galaxy and its central black hole are strongly linked. This is generally attributed to feedback mechanisms which, according to simulations, often take the form of outflows of gas, quenching star formation in the host galaxy and halting accretion onto the central black hole. While there are a number of plausible ways that outflows could be produced, recent results have shown that in some cases radio jets could be responsible for driving fast outflows of gas. One such example is seen in the nearby radio galaxy 3C293. In this talk I will present results from JVLA radio observations where we detect fast outflows (~1200 km/s) of neutral gas which are being driven by the radio-jet approximately 0.5 kpc from the central core, providing direct evidence for jet-ISM interaction. This is accompanied with recent IFU observations showing that ionised gas outflows are also being driven by the radio jet. Pinpointing the location of these outflows enables us to derive crucial parameters, such as the mass outflow rates and kinetic energy involved, which we can compare to predictions from galaxy evolution simulations.

We have undertaken a Spitzer campaign to measure the IR structures and spectra of low-redshift 3CRR radio galaxies. The results show that the 3.6 – 160 μm infrared properties vary systematically with integrated source power, and so demonstrate that contemporary core activity is characteristic of the behaviour of sources over their lifetimes. IR synchrotron emission is seen from jets and hotspots in some cases. Thermal emission is found from a jet/gas interaction in NGC7385. Most of the near-IR integrated colours of the low-redshift 3CRR radio galaxies are similar to those of passive galaxies, so that IR colours are poor indicators of radio activity.

Radio-loud AGN play an important rôle in galaxy evolution. We need to understand their properties, and the processes that affect their behaviour in order to model galaxy formation and development. We here present preliminary results of an investigation into the cluster environments of radio galaxies. We have found evidence of a strong correlation between radio luminosity and environment richness for low excitation radio galaxies, and no evidence of evolution of the environment with redshift. Conversely, for high excitation radio galaxies, we found no correlation with environment richness, and tentative evidence of evolution of the cluster environment.