3C 459

3C 459 known as IRAS 23140+0348, is a radio galaxy located in the constellation Pisces. It is located 2.74 billion light years from Earth and is classified as a Seyfert 2 and LINER galaxy.^[1]

3C 459
The radio galaxy 3C 459.
Observation data (J2000.0 epoch)
Constellation	Pisces
Right ascension	23h 16m 35.19s
Declination	+04° 05′ 18.29″
Redshift	0.220120
Heliocentric radial velocity	65,990 km/s
Distance	2.742 Gly (840.7 Mpc)
Apparent magnitude (V)	16.68
Apparent magnitude (B)	17.54
Characteristics
Type	Sy2, N galaxy;BLRG, LINER
Size	8.73 kiloparsecs (28,500 light-years) (diameter; 0.5-1.2 keV Chandra)[1]
Notable features	Radio galaxy
Other designations
PGC 70899, IRAS 23140+0348, 4C +03.57, PKS 2314+03, NRAO 0709, TXS 2314+038

Characteristics

3C 459 is categorized a Fanaroff-Riley class II radio galaxy.^[2][3] Its luminosity at both radio and far infrared wavelengths is L_v(4.8 GHz) = 10^26.4 W Hz⁻¹ and vL_v(60 μm) = 10^12.2 L_ʘ.^[4] The host galaxy of 3C 459 is an elliptical galaxy with a disturbed outer morphology indicating a product of a galaxy merger.^[4] It also has a young stellar population.^[5][6]

3C 459 contains a triple radio structure, measuring a total extent of 29 kiloparsecs (kpc).^[7] It consists of a radio core and two radio lobes separated by 40 kpc.^[4] The radio core in 3C 459 has a compact steep radio spectrum with east and west extensions.^[8] As for the lobes on the other hand, the western lobe is equally 5.5 times further from the nucleus,^[7] while the eastern lobe is compact and more closer.^[9] It is also indicated to be significantly depolarized by interstellar medium since only the western lobe shows strong polarization.^[7]

According to follow-up observation by Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2014, 3C 459 shows X-ray emission properties. Although most X-ray emission originates from the radio core, a significant amount of it is found at larger angular separations from the core, surrounding the galaxy's lobes and radio jets.^[10]

There is also detections of diffused nuclear emissions and a filamentary ionized gas structure in 3C 459 creating a single-sided triangular-shaped region with an outward expansion of up to ~ 80 kpc. In its central emission line region, it is dominated by two compact knots of similar flux. Both of them are found to have an offset of ~ 400 km s-1 from velocity point of view suggesting a dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) system in 3C 459.^[11]