On the question of radio emission of spiral galaxies in groups of galaxies

It has been shown that the radio emission properties of spiral galaxies, if the other conditions are the same, are determined rather by the presence of the close neighbours than by space density of galaxies around them. The rate of occurence of radio sources and their radio luminosities among the spiral members of groups of galaxies depend on the projected seperation between them and their nearest neighbour. The shorter this seperation the higher the probability of radio emission.     

X-ray and radio emission by clusters of galaxies

analysis of new X-ray and optical data confirms that the X-ray luminosityL _x of a cluster of galaxies is strongly dependent on its richness. The radio powerP ₁₄₄₅ of clusters at 1445 MHz is independent of richness, but is greater on the average for clusters with dominant cD galaxies than for those withou. The radio emission depends on the activity of one of the brightest galaxies; dominant cD galaxies are often responsible for radio emission, especially if they have double or multiple nuclei. For a given richness, high values ofL _x andP ₁₄₄₅ sometimes occur together, but no strict correlation betweenL _x andP ₁₄₄₅ exists. Possible tests of thermal-bremsstrahlung and inverse-Compton theories for the X-ray emission are mentioned.     

Morphological properties of radio elliptical galaxies

A CCD imaging survey of elliptical galaxies which present radio jets is described. The photometric and morphological properties of these galaxies and their nearby companions are described by Fourier analysis of the intensity variations along a set of elliptical contours fitted to the intensity distribution. A large fraction of the sample shows evidence for interaction with close companions. By interpolation between the best-fit ellipses an elliptical galaxy model of the underlying stellar distribution is constructed and by subtraction of these models interesting morphological features such as boxy isophotes, dust lanes and emission line regions are revealed. The data analysis technique developed for this study is described. The morphological and photometric properties of the objects can be explained by gravitational interaction of galaxies in close encounters. Five objects of a complete sample of low luminosity radio galaxies are briefly discussed.     

The radio emission of galaxies with low-luminosity active nuclei

We have compared the radio continuum emission of three samples of bright (B _t ^o <13) galaxies with LINER,HII region-like, and Seyfert nuclei. Basically, we have found that the objects of the first class are the weakest total and central radio emitters (for total and central unit light, respectively), whereas the Seyfert galaxies contain the most powerful central radio sources.     

Relationship between infrared and radio emission of spiral galaxies

The relationship between the IR luminosity of spiral galaxies in the 40-120 mm range and their radio luminosity at 0.408,1.49,2.38,5.0, and 10.7 GHz is investigated. At all frequencies there is a close correlation between the radio luminosity and the infrared luminosity of spiral galaxies. The slopes of the relationships between radio and IR luminosities are less than unity at all frequencies, but they differ little from it within the error limits. A close correlation also exists between the fluxes of radio and IR emission. The correlation coefficients are high for objects of all morphological subtypes, while the relationships between radio and IR luminosities are nearly linear. They are also nearly linear for spiral galaxies of different classes in the Byurakan classification. It is also shown that the correlation between radio and IR luminosities is weakened for high IR luminosities. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 33-44, January–March, 2000.     

Optical properties of low z radio galaxies

The optical morphological and photometric properties of 79 low redshift radio galaxies are discussed. It is found that most radio galaxies are luminous bulge dominated systems similar to normal non-radio giant ellipticals. The average absolute magnitude of the sample is 〈M_HOST(tot)〉=−23.98, with a clear trend for FR I sources to be ∼0.5 mag brighter than FR II galaxies. In about 40% of the objects we find an excess of light in the nucleus attributable to the presence of a nuclear point source. This contributes on average for ∼1–2% of the total flux from the host galaxy. Radio galaxies follow the same μ_e−R_e relationship of normal (non-active) elliptical galaxies. The distribution of ellipticity, the amount of twisting and shape of isophotes do not differ significantly from other ellipticals. These results support a scenario where radio emission is little related with the overall properties of the host galaxy.     

Optical synchrotron emission from the nuclei of FR I radio galaxies

We studied HST images of a complete sample of 33 FR I radio galaxies. Emission from an unresolved Central Compact Core (CCC) is detected in the great majority of the objects. CCC optical emission shows a striking correlation with the radio core fluxes, which extends over four decades with a slope of ∼1. This argues strongly for a non-thermal synchrotron origin of the CCCs, which would then dominate the nuclear emission both in the radio and in the optical bands. The high detection rate of CCCs sets strong constraints on the existence/geometry of any obscuring, optically thick structure (torus) in FR I. We also find evidence for a different behavior of low and high power objects belonging to our sample. CCC fluxes also represent upper limits to any unobscured thermal/disc emission, which translate into a fraction as small as ≲10⁻⁷−10⁻⁵ of the Eddington luminosity (for a 10⁹ M_⊙ black hole).     

Extended inverse-Compton emission from distant, powerful radio galaxies

We present Chandra observations of two relatively high redshift FR II radio galaxies, 3C 432 and 3C 191 (   z = 1.785  and 1.956, respectively), both of which show extended X-ray emission along the axis of the radio jet or lobe. This X-ray emission is most likely to be due to inverse-Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons. Under this assumption, we estimate the minimum energy contained in the particles responsible. This can be extrapolated to determine a rough estimate of the total energy. We also present new, deep radio observations of 3C 294, which confirm some association between radio and X-ray emission along the north-east–south-west radio axis and also that radio emission is not detected over the rest of the extent of the diffuse X-ray emission. This together with the offset between the peaks of the X-ray and radio emissions may indicate that the jet axis in this source is precessing.     

Dynamical evolution in clusters of galaxies with low-frequency radio emission

Clusters of galaxies in which radio emission at low frequencies (178 MHz) has been detected were classified on the Bautz-Morgan (BM) system according to the dominance of the brightest galaxy. Radio sources with steep low-frequency spectra occur in clusters of all BM types but more often in rich clusters; the distributions of BM types for clusters with high and low spectral indices between 38 and 178 MHz are similar. Glass copies of Mount Palomar Sky Survey plates were measured to determine the distribution of the ten brightest galaxies in clusters without dominant galaxies. Some clusters were found to have central cores of bright galaxies which may reflect mass segregation of galaxies due to dynamical friction. The bright galaxies in such cores may later merge to form dominant cD galaxies. The positions of the cD galaxies and cores of bright galaxies are often at projected distances <200 kpc from the low-frequency radio emission. The low-frequency spectrum of radio emission associated with a cD galaxy may be either steep or normal, but the low-frequency spectrum from a core of bright galaxies is usually steep. A steep spectrum may develop when a radio source is confined by hot gas in a cluster over a long period (10⁹ yr). Confinement would probably occur for radio sources associated with bright galaxies in the cores of clusters and cD galaxies in clusters. However, cD galaxies may have recurrent radio outbursts so that steep spectra are not always observed.     

A study of the long-term variability in radio emission of active galaxies

A long-term study of 13 active galaxies has been carried out at 10.7 GHz over the period September 1980 to April 1982. The sources were observed at approximately monthly intervals and most of them were selected because they are also X-ray sources. The data obtained are used to measure their respective variabilities and to search for any correlations with other source parameters. No obvious relationship to radio or X-ray luminosity was found, though there does appear to be two distinct levels of radio variability for these sources and clear evidence of higher X-ray than radio variability.     

Diffuse radio emission from the Coma cluster of galaxies at decametre wavelengths

We have observed the region of the Coma cluster at 34.5 MHz with a resolution of 26 arcmin × 40 arcmin. A map of the diffuse halo (Coma C) is presented. The size of the halo is found to be 54 arcmin × 30 arcmin. The position angle is 50° ± 10° and the integrated flux is 60 ± 11 Jy. We have also found an extended source to the south of Coma A. The measured half-power widths of this source are 30 arcmin × 40 arcmin. The position angle is 135° and the integrated flux is ~ 15 Jy at 34.5 MHz. The spectral index in the frequency range 408 to 34.5 MHz is -1.0. It is suggested that this source also belongs to the Coma cluster.