The nature of compact radio sources: the case of FR0 radio galaxies

Ranieri D. Baldi

Published 2023-07-17Version 1

Radio-loud compact radio sources (CRSs) are characterised by morphological compactness of the jet structure centred on the active nucleus of the galaxy. Most of the local elliptical galaxies are found to host a CRS with nuclear luminosities lower than those of typical quasars, $\lesssim$10$^{42}\, {\rm erg\, s}^{-1}$. Recently, low-luminosity CRSs with a LINER-like optical spectrum have been named Fanaroff-Riley (FR) type 0 to highlight their lack of substantially extended radio emission at kpc scales, in contrast with the other Fanaroff-Riley classes, full-fledged FRIs and FRII radio galaxies. FR0s are the most abundant class of radio galaxies in the local Universe, and characterised by a higher core dominance, poorer Mpc-scale environment and smaller (sub-kpc scale, if resolved) jets than FRIs. However, FR0s share similar host and nuclear properties with FRIs. A different accretion-ejection paradigm from that in place in FRIs is invoked to account for the parsec-scale FR0 jets. This review revises the state-of-the-art knowledge about FR0s, their nature, and which open issues the next generation of radio telescopes can solve in this context.