Narrow-angle tail radio sources and the distribution of galaxy orbits in Abell clusters

Journal Article · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1987 · Astrophys. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/165183· OSTI ID:6018324

O'dea, C P; Sarazin, C L; Owen, F N

The present data on the orientations of the tails with respect to the cluster centers of a sample of 70 narrow-angle-tail (NAT) radio sources in Abell clusters show the distribution of tail angles to be inconsistent with purely radial or circular orbits in all the samples, while being consistent with isotropic orbits in (1) the whole sample, (2) the sample of NATs far from the cluster center, and (3) the samples of morphologically regular Abell clusters. Evidence for very radial orbits is found, however, in the sample of NATs near the cluster center. If these results can be generalized to all cluster galaxies, then the presence of radial orbits near the center of Abell clusters suggests that violent relaxation may not have been fully effective even within the cores of the regular clusters. 93 references.

• Research Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA; Virginia Univ., Charlottesville; Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, Boulder, CO; National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro, NM
• OSTI ID: 6018324
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J.; (United States), Journal Name: Astrophys. J.; (United States) Vol. 316; ISSN ASJOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
640105* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Galaxies
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXY CLUSTERS
MORPHOLOGY
ORBITS
RADIAL VELOCITY
RADIATIONS
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
VELOCITY