# X-ray observations of low-power radio galaxies from the B2 catalogue

## 1 Introduction

It is widely accepted that the radio emission in BL Lac objects is dominated by synchrotron radiation from a relativistic jet pointed towards the observer, thus explaining, among other things, the superluminal velocities and rapid variability observed in several objects. Such a favourable orientation to the observer should not be common, implying the presence of a population of double radio sources whose twin jets lie in the plane of the sky. Low-power radio galaxies can be found which match BL Lac objects in extended radio power (Wardle, Moore & Angel 1984) and galaxy magnitude (Ulrich 1989). There is evidence that the total soft X-ray luminosity in such galaxies is correlated with the radio-core luminosity, implying a nuclear jet-related origin for at least some of the X-ray emission (Fabbiano et al. 1984). High spatial resolution X-ray measurements have further strengthened this argument by separating point-like emission from hot X-ray emitting atmospheres (Worrall & Birkinshaw 1994; Edge & Röttgering 1995; Feretti et al. 1995; Worrall 1997; Hardcastle & Worrall 1999). What has been lacking is high-resolution X-ray observations of a large unbiased sample of low-power radio galaxies with which to investigate the association of unresolved X-ray emission with the nuclear radio jet.

The B2 bright sample of radio galaxies are Bologna Catalogue 408-MHz radio sources identified with elliptical galaxies brighter than m<sub>Zwicky</sub>=15.4 (Colla et al. 1975, Ulrich 1989). The radio survey occupies 0.84 steradian, and is complete at 408 MHz down to 0.2 Jy for (B1950) declinations between 29 and 34 degrees, 0.25 Jy for declinations between 24 and 29.5 degrees and between 34 and 40 degrees, and 0.5 Jy between 21.4 and 24 degrees (Colla et al. 1970, 1975; Ulrich 1989), although none of the bright sample radio galaxies lies in the last declination range. The sample comprises 50 galaxies, of which 47 are at $`z0.065`$ (see Table 1). The high Galactic latitudes imply a relatively small Galactic neutral hydrogen column density and small resultant X-ray absorption. The B2 sample has been shown to be well matched with radio-selected BL Lac objects in their extended radio properties and galaxy magnitudes (Ulrich 1989). In this paper we present ROSAT X-ray measurements of 40 galaxies which constitute an unbiased subsample of the 47 galaxies at $`z0.065`$. The data were taken from our pointed observations or from data in the ROSAT public archives.

Section 2 discusses the sample of galaxies observed with $`\mathrm{𝑅𝑂𝑆𝐴𝑇}`$ and the general properties of the X-ray data. Details of our analysis and notes on some of the sources are in section 3. Section 4 describes X-ray – radio comparisons. Section 5 contains our conclusions.

A Friedmann cosmological model with $`H_0=50`$ km s<sup>-1</sup> Mpc<sup>-1</sup>, $`q_0=0`$ is used throughout this paper.

## 2 X-ray data

Table 1 lists the sample of 50 B2 radio sources associated with elliptical galaxies; we have not included B2 1101+38 and B2 1652+39 as these are the well known BL Lac objects Mkn 421 and Mkn 501. We tabulate the pointed observations taken with ROSAT using the instrument with the highest spatial resolution, the High Resolution Imager (HRI; David et al. 1997), or, if no HRI observations were made, the Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC; Trümper 1983; Pfeffermann et al. 1987). Where multiple observations exist, we present results for the longest on-axis viewings, concentrating where possible on HRI data. Most observations result in a detection. In some cases where good data exist from the HRI and PSPC, both were analysed and compared (this was the case for B2 0055+30, 0120+33, 0149+35, 1122+39; 1217+29 and 2335+26). Within the same ROR, some HRI observations were split into observing periods about 6 months or a year apart. Where this was the case, the data have been merged after the individual ‘observations’ were checked for anomalies. In many cases resolved X-ray emission (measured better with the PSPC) is seen in addition to point-like emission. Complementary work discussing the extended X-ray emission and X-ray spectra of B2 radio galaxies based on PSPC observations can be found in Worrall $`\&`$ Birkinshaw (in preparation). Our treatment of the resolved emission in this paper is restricted to modelling it sufficiently well to determine a best estimate for the contribution from central unresolved emission.

40 of the full sample of 50 B2 radio galaxies (and the 47 at $`z<`$0.065) listed in Table 1 were observed with $`\mathrm{𝑅𝑂𝑆𝐴𝑇}`$: the demise of the satellite in early 1999 prevented observation of the remaining 7 objects with $`z<`$0.065. No known bias was introduced into the set of 40 objects for which we have data by the process of prioritizing sources for $`\mathrm{𝑅𝑂𝑆𝐴𝑇}`$ observation. This is illustrated in Fig. 1, which shows histograms of 1.4-GHz extended radio power ($`P_{\mathrm{ext}}`$), redshift, and absolute visual magnitude ($`M_\mathrm{v}`$) for the 47 galaxies at $`z0.065`$. $`P_{\mathrm{ext}}`$ and $`M_\mathrm{v}`$ are indicators of isotropic unbeamed emission used to support the association of these galaxies with the hosts of BL Lac objects. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test finds no significant ($`>`$90 per cent confidence) difference between the distributions of sources for which we have $`\mathrm{𝑅𝑂𝑆𝐴𝑇}`$ data, and those for which we do not, in any of the quantities $`P_{\mathrm{ext}}`$, $`z`$, or $`M_\mathrm{v}`$.

The ROSAT HRI has a roughly square field of view with 38 arcmin on a side. A functional form for the azimuthally averaged point spread function (PSF) can be found in David et al. (1997). The core of the HRI radial profile of a point-like source may be wider than the nominal PSF, and ellipsoidal images are sometimes seen, due to a blurring attributable to residual errors in the aspect correction. The major axes of such ellipsoidal images are not aligned with the satellite wobble direction (the wobble is employed to ensure that no sources are imaged only in hot pixels in the HRI or hidden behind the PSPC window-support structure) and depend unpredictably on the day of observation and therefore the satellite roll angle. The asymmetry is strongest between 5 arcsec and 10 arcsec from the centroid of the image. The PSF for the HRI begins to be noticeably influenced by the off-axis blur of the X-ray telescope at $``$7 arcmin off-axis. All HRI observations discussed here are essentially on axis.

The ROSAT PSPC has a circular field of view, of diameter 2 degrees, and the PSF has a FWHM of about 30 arcsec at the center of the field, degrading only marginally out to off-axis angles of about 20 arcmin. At larger radii the mirror blur dominates the spatial resolution, and at 40 arcmin off axis the FWHM of the PSF is about 100 arcsec. Only one of the 40 sources discussed here (B2 0722+30) is significantly affected by mirror blur, as all others were observed in the central part of the field of view.

We used the Post Reduction Off-Line Software (PROS; Worrall et al. 1992) to generate radial profiles of the X-ray data. Background was taken from a source-centered annulus of radii given in Table 3. Where the radial profile has been used to probe the extended emission, the contribution from extended-emission models to the background region is taken into account (Worrall & Birkinshaw 1994).

We excluded confusing sources, defined as those separated from the target by $`15`$ arcsec (HRI) and $`30`$ arcsec (PSPC), showing up at $`3\sigma `$ above the background level and overlapping the on-source or background regions (or being slightly beyond, but still affecting the background due to the broad wings of the PSF). Optical images (e.g the Palomar Sky Survey plates, digitized by the Space Telescope Science Institute) and radio maps were overlaid on the X-ray images, to check the identity of each target source and any neighbouring X-ray sources, and to help to classify and limit further the effects of confusing sources.

Our luminosity determination for unresolved emission assumes a power-law spectrum with an energy index $`\alpha `$ of 0.8 ($`f_\nu \nu ^\alpha `$) modified by Galactic absorption. Variations in spectral form affect the luminosity, but this is normally a small error compared with statistical uncertainties.

## 3 Radial profiles and nuclear X-ray emission

We analyse the structure of an X-ray source by extracting a radial profile and fitting various models convolved with the energy-weighted PSF of the detector in question \[the nominal PSF for the HRI (David et al. 1997) and the PSF for the PSPC (Belloni, Hasinger & Izzo 1994)\].

As well as point-source models, we have fitted our radial profiles with $`\beta `$ models (Sarazin 1986) which describe gas in hydrostatic equilibrium. The values used for $`\beta `$ were 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, 0.5, 0.67, 0.75 and 0.9. For each source the models used are (a) point source, (b) $`\beta `$ model and (c) point source + $`\beta `$ model. Model parameters for sources where an extended component is detected are given in Table 2. In most cases we find that for observations with enough counts a significantly better fit to the data is achieved by fitting the composite model (c) rather than either (a) or (b) individually (see Table 2).

Residual errors in aspect correction affect the HRI PSF and must be taken into account when evaluating the contribution from a point source \[see Worrall et al. (1999), where it was found that a point source can appear more like a $`\beta `$ model with a core radius of up to about 5 arcsec (dependent on $`\beta `$ assumed) because of the aspect smearing\]. Of the sources in this paper only 1833+32 has high enough count rate to perform the dewobbling procedure described by Harris et al. (1998); we find no substantial difference in the best-fit parameters after dewobbling. For observations where the data show extension on small scales, it is difficult to decide whether the source is really point like or indeed slightly extended. In some cases, the fit to the point+$`\beta `$ model has a substantially lower $`\chi ^2`$ than the beta-model fit alone, and here we regard the point-like component as well measured. Where $`\chi ^2`$ remains unchanged for these two models, the total counts have been taken as an upper limit on the point-source counts. A literature search into the environments of the sources and a cross-correlation of the HRI and PSPC results, where possible, helps us further validate our HRI findings and place limits on the likelihood of the source being primarily point-like.

In the 7 cases where there are not enough counts to perform adequate radial-profile fitting , the total counts are taken as an upper limit to the contribution of point-like emission. For non-detections a 3$`\sigma `$ upper limit, derived by applying Poisson statistics to a 5 by 5 arcsec detection cell for the HRI on-axis observations (3 cases), and a 120 by 120 arcsec detection cell for the PSPC observation of the off-axis source B2 0722+30, centred on the position of the radio and optical core, is taken as an upper limit on both the total and the unresolved X-ray emission.

Table 2 gives results for the 16 sources with enough counts to allow radial-profile model fitting. Table 3 presents the net counts within a circle of specified radius and, for the sources with enough counts to allow radial profiling (consisting of a minimum of $``$70 counts over 3 data bins), the point-source contribution. There is a wide range in the ratio of unresolved to resolved counts. X-ray core flux and luminosity densities calculated from the unresolved count rates, and radio core flux and luminosity densities taken from the literature are given in Table 4.

### 3.1 Notes on individual sources

Where analysis of sample sources is present in the literature, comparisons have been made with the results presented here. Results for B2 0055+26 are taken from Worrall, Birkinshaw $`\&`$ Cameron (1995). B2 0326+39, 1040+31 and 1855+37 are discussed in detail in Worrall $`\&`$ Birkinshaw (in preparation). The HRI results for B2 2229+39 are consistent with the findings of Hardcastle, Worrall $`\&`$ Birkinshaw (1998), for a PSPC observation of the source.

B2 0120+33   
Identified with the galaxy NGC 507, the source lies in Zwicky cluster 0107+3212 and is one of the brightest galaxies in a very dense region. Extended X-ray emission is seen out to a radius of at least 16 arcmin, and there is evidence for the presence of a cooling flow and possible undetected cooling clumps distributed at large radii (Kim & Fabbiano 1995). B2 0120+33 has a steep radio spectrum and weak core. It may be a source with particularly weak jets, or possibly a remnant of a radio galaxy whose nuclear engine is almost inactive and whose luminosity has decreased due to synchrotron or adiabatic losses (Fanti et al. 1987).

The HRI map shows the central region of this source to be asymmetrical, with a large extended emission region to the SW. Radial-profile fitting of the innermost parts of this galaxy with point, $`\beta `$, and point+$`\beta `$ models, show that a good fit to the data is achieved by using a single $`\beta `$ model with $`\beta `$=0.67, which gives a core radius of 4$`\mathrm{}`$. The $`\beta `$+point model gives a marginally better fit, but the additional component is not significant on an F-test at the 90$`\%`$ confidence level. Therefore, we have taken the total counts from the inner regions of this source as an upper limit on any unresolved emission present, keeping in mind that this may also include a cooling-flow contribution (this also holds for other sources with possible unresolved cooling flows such as B2 0149+35, 1346+26 and 1626+39).

B2 0149+35   
B2 0149+35 is identified with NGC 708 and is associated with the brightest galaxy in the cluster Abell 262. Braine & Dupraz (1994) suggest that it contains a cooling flow which may contribute excess central X-rays, and this may explain why B2 0149+35 has a higher point-like X-ray luminosity and flux than expected based on other sample members. It is not possible to separate spatially a cooling-flow contribution from unresolved X-ray emission using the PSPC observation, and the asymmetry of the source makes the extraction of a radial profile difficult.   
The HRI observation is split up into 2 OBIs (Observation Intervals), one of which shows a barred N-S structure. Each OBI was individually analysed by taking close-in source regions, and this gives results which are consistent with the PSPC data from the inner region of B2 0149+35. In the longer, and more reliable, of the two OBIs (12.7ks), 207 counts were detected. The point-like contribution to the net emission from this source however, is not significant at the 95 per cent level when an F-test is performed. The detected counts are therefore taken as an upper limit on the point model emission. The shorter OBI was not used.

B2 0207+38   
This source is described as being more similar to an S0 or to a spiral galaxy than an elliptical (Parma et al. 1986). It has also been called a post-eruptive Sa (Zwicky et al., 1968) or a distorted Sa (de Vaucouleurs, de Vaucouleurs & Corwin 1975). The radio structure is disc-like and there is no sign of either a radio core, or of jets or radio lobes (Parma et al. 1986). It is probably a starburst, like B2 1318+34. There are no ROSAT X-ray data for this source.

B2 0836+29A   
This object (4C 29.30), this object has been often confused in the literature with the cD galaxy B2 0836+29 at $`z`$=0.079, which is the brightest galaxy in Abell 690.

B2 0924+30   
B2 0924+30 appears to be a remnant radio galaxy whose nuclear engine is inactive (Fanti et al., 1987; Cordey 1987; Giovannini et al. 1988). It is the brightest member in a Zwicky cluster (Ekers et al. 1981), and the X-ray data suggest extended X-ray emission, although the detection is of marginal significance. The relatively high X-ray emission for a source with no detectable core radio emission may therefore be due to the extended gas in the cluster. We have taken the detected emission as an upper limit on possible point source emission.

B2 1122+39   
Analysis of this source, both in the PSPC and in the HRI, shows that $``$3 per cent of the total emission is contributed by an unresolved source. This is consistent with the findings of Massaglia et al. (1996) who find a contribution from a point source of $`<`$6 per cent.

B2 1217+29   
PSPC and HRI analysis of this source are consistent. A $`\beta `$+point model fits the data better than a $`\beta `$ model alone (see Table 2).

B2 1254+27   
There is a large discrepancy between the positions given for this object in the NASA Extragalactic Database (NED) and the SIMBAD Astronomical Database. This is because the radio source has, in some cases, been incorrectly associated with the galaxy NGC 4819 rather than the true host galaxy for the radio emission which is NGC 4839.

NGC 4839 is classified confusingly as morphological type S0 (Eskridge & Pooge 1991), E/S0 (Jorgensen, Franx & Kjaegaard 1992) or as a cD (Gonzalez-Serrano, Carballo & Perez-Fournon 1993; Fisher, Illingworth & Franx 1995). Andreon et al. (1996) also mention that the low average surface brightness suggests that this galaxy is dominated by an extended disc. The X-ray map of the source shows extended large scale emission to the SW \[described by Dow & White (1995), as being in the process of interacting with the intracluster medium of the main (Coma) cluster\]. This goes beyond the size of the optical galaxy and has been excluded here so as not to affect the background emission. About 88 per cent of the net counts arise from a point-like emission component.

B2 1257+28   
The region of enhanced X-ray emission in B2 1257+28 in the Coma cluster is substantially smaller than the size of the optical galaxy. Small on-source (12 arcsec radius) and background (15-22.5 arcsec) source-centered circles were used in order to verify the contribution from unresolved X-ray emission given by our best-fit model.

B2 1317+33   
B2 1317+33 (NGC 5098A) has a companion galaxy (NGC 5098B) at a distance of $`40`$ arcsec. We have checked that the X-ray and radio source come from NGC 5098A by overlaying the radio, optical and X-ray maps.

B2 1318+34   
B2 1318+34 is a classic merger-induced starburst, whose total radio flux can be attributed to starburst activity rather than an active nucleus (Condon, Huang & Yin 1991).

B2 1346+26   
The source is a cD galaxy in Abell 1795, identified with 4C 26.42. It contains a central cooling-flow component, as discussed in Fabian et al. (1994). $`\mathrm{𝐻𝑆𝑇}`$ WFPC2 images of the core of this cooling flow are presented in Pinkney et al. (1996).

Our analysis of the HRI data detects a central point source which is significant on an F-test at the 95 per cent confidence level (see Table 2). About 1 per cent of the total counts lie in this point-like component (see Table 3).

B2 1422+26   
B2 1422+26 is not radially symmetric in the X-ray. An off-axis X-ray source in the same field of view gives a good fit to the nominal PSF, and so we can rule out the possibility that the X-ray extension seen in B2 1422+26 is due to the ROSAT aspect correction problem. The possible detection of a point-like component is not significant on an F-test at the 95 per cent level (although it passes at the 90 per cent level). We have nevertheless taken the point counts calculated from these model fits as our best estimate of the central emission, though the errors are large.

B2 1615+35   
HRI analysis is consistent with Feretti et al. (1995). The X-ray emission is largely point like (see Table 3), with $``$60 per cent of the net counts coming from the point source.

B2 1621+38   
B2 1621+38 was analysed by Feretti et al. (1995), who found a point-source contribution of $``$50 per cent of the total X-ray flux. Our analysis is consistent with this result; we find the point-source contribution to be 18$`\pm `$4 per cent.

B2 1626+39   
B2 1626+39 lies in a cluster (A2199), with a prototypical cooling flow. Owen & Eilek (1998) conclude that the radio source is relatively young and has been disrupted by the surrounding gas. The ROSAT HRI data set for this source consists of 2 OBIs roughly 7 months apart. Only in the second observation does the source appear extended, with two adjacent peaks. We have taken this to be due to errors in the aspect correction or processing effects and therefore have used only the first OBI in our analysis.

B2 1833+32   
B2 1833+32 is an FRII radio galaxy (Laing, Riley & Longair 1983; Black et al. 1992) with broad emission lines (Osterbrock, Koski & Phillips 1975; Tadhunter, Perez & Fosbury 1986; Kaastra, Kunieda & Awaki 1991). Its higher than expected X-ray flux, as compared with the core radio strength, may arise from emission in the central accretion disc around the active nucleus, seen due to an advantageous viewing angle as indicated by the broad emission lines.

B2 2236+35   
This source has a double symmetric radio jet embedded in a low surface-brightness region. The two extended lobes are similar in strength and size (Morganti et al. 1987). The X-ray emission at radii greater than about 20 arcsec seems aligned with the radio jets in this source. Model fitting shows $``$25 per cent of the total counts to be in the point source.

## 4 X-ray – radio comparisons

In Table 3 we list the net counts detected for each source within a specified radius and our best estimate of the contribution from unresolved emission derived as described above. 1-keV luminosity densities and broad-band soft X-ray luminosities calculated from the values for unresolved emission are given in Table 4, along with the radio core flux density and luminosity density. In Fig. 2 we show a logarithmic plot of radio core luminosity density against the unresolved core X-ray emission; the corresponding flux density-flux density plot appears in Fig. 3.

Both the logarithmic X-ray and radio flux densities and the corresponding luminosities are correlated at the $`>99.99`$ per cent significance level on a modified Kendall’s $`\tau `$-test which takes upper limits into account, as implemented in ASURV (Lavalley, Isobe & Feigelson 1992). The flux-flux correlation gives us confidence that the luminosity-luminosity relationship is not an artificially-introduced redshift effect.

To determine the slope of the core flux-flux and luminosity-luminosity plots, a generalised version of the Theil-Sen estimator was used as presented in Akritas, Murphy $`\&`$ LaValley (1995). This takes into account the nature of the upper limits by assuming that the individual points are all part of the same parent population. For more details of this analysis and its advantages over the more commonly used survival-analysis method, see Hardcastle & Worrall (1999), where it is explained how using the bisector of two regression lines provides a more robust estimate of the slope. This method however does not give a value for the intercept of the best-fit line. To determine the best-fit line plotted on Fig. 2, a regression based on the bisector of slopes determined by the Schmitt algorithm as implemented in ASURV was used, because it does allow us to determine an intercept.

For the whole sample, the Theil-Sen luminosity-luminosity slope is 1.05 with 90 per cent confidence limits 0.86-1.28. There are however, a few galaxies that should be removed. These are the starburst object B2 1318+34 (which is not member of a strict AGN sample), and the FRII B2 1833+32 (which is a broad-line galaxy). For comparison purposes we have retained these objects on Figs. 2 & 3. With the omission of these two sources, we find a Theil-Sen slope of 0.96 for the luminosity-luminosity relation, with a 90 per cent confidence range (derived from simulation) of 0.78 – 1.21. The median logarithmic dispersion about the regression line is $`0.2`$. Schmitt regression analysis of the slope gives consistent results, with a slope of 1.15 and a 90 per cent confidence limit of 0.92 – 1.39. Normalisation of the Schmitt slope at a radio luminosity of 10<sup>22</sup>W Hz<sup>-1</sup>sr<sup>-1</sup>, gives the best-fit normalisation value of 15.55 (i.e. the predicted X-ray flux at that radio luminosity is 10<sup>15.55</sup>W Hz<sup>-1</sup>sr<sup>-1</sup>. The 90 per cent confidence range on this is 15.2 to 15.9.

From combining statistical methods, the best overall estimate and 90 per cent confidence uncertainty for the core X-ray–radio luminosity relation for low-power radio galaxies is given by:

log(l<sub>x</sub>) = (0.96$`{}_{0.18}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+0.25}`$) log (l<sub>r</sub>/10<sup>22</sup>) + (15.55 $`\pm `$ 0.35)   

A couple of sources lie significantly away from the regression line (B2 1254+27 and B2 1257+28). Both lie in the Coma cluster and may be contaminated by cluster emission.

B2 0120+33 has been classified as a possible remnant of a radio galaxy whose nuclear engine is inactive (Fanti et al. 1987), and is shown as an upper limit above the expected value based on the X-ray correlation for other sample members. Its high total X-ray flux may be due to the cooling flow seen by Kim & Fabbiano (1995) (see Section 3 of this paper) and makes the extraction of the core flux difficult. B2 0924+30 is also a relic source. B2 0149+35 contains a cooling flow which may contribute excess central X-rays (Braine & Dupraz 1994).

The correlation shown in Figs. 2 & 3 suggests a physical relationship between the soft X-ray emission of radio galaxies and the jet-generated radio core emission. Correlations between the total X-ray emission and the radio core emission have been seen in the $`\mathrm{𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛}`$ $`\mathrm{𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦}`$ data (e.g Fabbiano et al. 1984), but did not have the spatial resolution necessary to separate point and extended components. Our $`\mathrm{𝑅𝑂𝑆𝐴𝑇}`$ analysis and the decomposition of the X-ray emission into resolved and unresolved components, now shows that the nuclear X-ray emission is strongly correlated with the nuclear radio-core emission. This favours models which imply a nuclear jet-related origin for at least some of the X-ray emission.

## 5 Conclusions

Radial profiling and model fitting of ROSAT data, primarily from the HRI, have allowed us to separate point-like contributions from the overall X-ray emission in low power radio galaxies from a well defined, nearby sample. We find flux-flux and luminosity-luminosity core X-ray/radio correlations for such sources, with slopes that are consistent with unity. This suggests a physical relationship between the soft X-ray emission of radio galaxies and the jet-generated radio core emission, with the clear implication that at least some of the X-ray emission is related to the nuclear radio jet. In future work we will estimate X-ray beaming parameters under the assumption that radio galaxies are the parent population of BL Lac objects.

## Acknowledgments

This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Support from NASA grant NAG 5-1882 is gratefully acknowledged. We thank the referee for useful comments.