The under-explored radio-loudness of quasars and the possibility of radio-source--environment interactions

Abstract

I demonstrate that radio observations in the literature to date of optically-selected quasars are largely inadequate to reveal the full extent of their jet-activity. I discuss a recent example of an optically-powerful quasar, which is radio-quiet according to all the standard classifications, which Blundell & Rawlings discovered to have a >100 kpc jet, and show that other than being the first FRI quasar to be identified, there is no reason to presume it is exceptional. I also discuss a possible new probe of accounting for the interactions of radio sources with their environments. This tool could help to avoid over-estimating magnetic fields strengths within cluster gas. I briefly describe recent analyses by Rudnick & Blundell which confront claims in the literature of cluster gas B-fields > 10 micro-G.