Astron. Astrophys. 349, 381-388 (1999)

The complex radio spectrum of 3C 130

M.J. Hardcastle

Department of Physics, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK (m.hardcastle@bristol.ac.uk)

Received 28 June 1999 / Accepted 5 August 1999

Abstract

I present four-frequency radio observations of the wide-angle tail radio galaxy 3C 130. By a technique of simulated observations, I assess the systematic errors in the data due to the varying uv plane coverage in the different observations used. Using spectral tomography I show that, at least in the southern plume, the source can be represented by a two-component model consisting of a flat-spectrum core and steep-spectrum sheath, as recently found in other FRI sources. In addition, there is a strong difference in the high-frequency spectra of the northern and southern plumes. I discuss the implications of these observations for the source's jet dynamics and particle acceleration, and discuss models of the class of WATs as a whole.

Key words: radio continuum: galaxies galaxies: active galaxies: jets galaxies: individual: 3C 130

SIMBAD Objects

Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Data
  • 2.1. Flux scales
  • 2.2. Mapping
• 3. Results
  • 3.1. Images and their fidelity
  • 3.2. Flux densities and spectra
• 4. Discussion
  • 4.1. Tomography and the nature of the steep-spectrum `sheath'
  • 4.2. The high-frequency spectra of the plumes
• 5. Speculations on source models
• Acknowledgements
• References

© European Southern Observatory (ESO) 1999

Online publication: September 2, 1999
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