We present results from a 42 ks Chandra /ACIS-S observation of the transitional FR I/FR II radio galaxy 3C 288 at z = 0.246 .
We detect \sim 3 keV gas extending to a radius of \sim 0.5 Mpc with a 0.5–2.0 keV luminosity of 6.6 \times 10 ^ { 43 } ergs s ^ { -1 } , implying that 3C 288 lies at the center of a poor cluster .
We find multiple surface brightness discontinuities in the gas indicative of either a shock driven by the inflation of the radio lobes or a recent merger event .
The temperature across the discontinuities is roughly constant with no signature of a cool core , thus disfavoring either the merger cold-front or sloshing scenarios .
We argue therefore that the discontinuities are shocks due to the supersonic inflation of the radio lobes .
If they are shocks , the energy of the outburst is \sim 10 ^ { 60 } ergs , or roughly 30 % of the thermal energy of the gas within the radius of the shock , assuming that the shocks are part of a front produced by a single outburst .
The cooling time of the gas is \sim 10 ^ { 8 } yrs , so that the energy deposited by the nuclear outburst could have reheated and efficiently disrupted a cool core .