Speaker
Description
Radio halos, diffuse radio emissions spanning hundreds of kiloparsecs to megaparsecs in the cores of galaxy clusters, serve as excellent candidates for studying intracluster medium (ICM) dynamics and particle acceleration mechanisms. These halos, characterized by steep spectral indices (𝛼 < -1) and faint surface brightness, often align with the thermal X-ray emission of clusters. Recent radio surveys have uncovered numerous radio halos, with evidence suggesting a link between their occurrence and the merging state of galaxy clusters. Yet, not all merging clusters host radio halos, necessitating deeper multi-wavelength investigations to unravel their origins and evolution. Abell 384 was observed hosting a radio halo in the MERGHERS pilot survey using MeerKAT 1.28 GHz data. We analyzed its spectral properties using MeerKAT, uGMRT Band-3, and legacy GMRT 608 MHz observations, revealing a power-law spectrum with a spectral index of -0.96 between 400 MHz and 1.28 GHz. To complement the radio findings, X-ray data from XMM-Newton and optical data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) were used to assess the cluster's dynamical state. In the case of Abell 384, the combined X-ray and optical analyses point to a dynamically disturbed system, with the observed radio-X-ray surface brightness correlation suggesting turbulence-driven particle reacceleration as the dominant mechanism. In this conference, I will present our multi-wavelength study of Abell 384, providing insights into the origin of the radio halo and the dynamical state of the cluster.
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