J023721.13-010528.5: A Giant S-shaped Radio Galaxy Showing Four Episodes of Jet Activity

Abstract

We present high-sensitivity, high-resolution radio observations of J023721.13−010528.5 using the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in band-3 (250–500 MHz) and band-4 (550–950 MHz), along with MeerKAT (1280 MHz) and VLA (3 GHz) survey images. The radio source, hosted by a bright cluster galaxy at redshift z = 0.372, is a giant radio galaxy with a projected linear size between the outermost hotspots of 1.2 Mpc and is one of the largest S-shaped radio sources known. Its radio morphology revealed four pairs of components straddling the radio core, which were also local maxima in profiles of radio flux densities and equipartition energy density measured along the radio lobes. Spatially resolved multifrequency spectral analysis showed progressively older emission from the inner to the outer components, spanning approximately 4–21 Myr. The high degree of symmetry of the inner three component-pairs with respect to the radio core makes it improbable that these are randomly located knots in the radio jet. Therefore, we present J023721.13−010528.5 as the prototype of a new class of radio galaxies with four episodes of jet activity—a quadruple-double radio galaxy. We suggest that giant S-shaped radio sources may be among the most promising targets for identifying and studying multiepoch radio jet activity, since their large linear sizes and jet-axis evolution can spatially separate hotspots from successive episodes, making them easier to detect and analyze.