2 research outputs found
The characteristic polarized radio continuum distribution of cluster spiral galaxies
Deep observations of 6cm polarized radio continuum emission of 8 Virgo spiral
galaxies are presented. All galaxies show strongly asymmetric distributions of
polarized intensity with elongated ridges located in the outer galactic disk.
Such features are not found in existing observations of polarized radio
continuum emission of field spiral galaxies, where the distribution of 6cm
polarized intensity is generally relatively symmetric and strongest in the
interarm regions. We therefore conclude that most Virgo spiral galaxies and
most probably the majority of cluster spiral galaxies show asymmetric
distributions of polarized radio continuum emission due to their interaction
with the cluster environment. The polarized continuum emission is sensitive to
compression and shear motions in the plane of the sky and thus contains
important information about velocity distortions caused by these interactions.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, A&A accepted as a lette