RUI: Studies of Powerful Radio Sources

AST-0206002

Daly, Ruth A.

Powerful radio sources play an important role in our understanding of galaxy evolution and the phenomenon of activity in the nuclei of galaxies. It is important to define, quantify, and understand the properties and structure of these radio sources. This will lead to a better understanding of the physics of the radio sources and the relationship of the radio sources to (1) the active galactic nuclei that power the large-scale radio emission, (2) their host galaxies, and (3) their gaseous and galactic environments. This work will involve studies that are aimed at improving and extending our knowledge and understanding of the radio sources in order to quantify, evaluate, and understand their properties. Powerful extended radio sources are observed to relatively high redshift, and the sample that will be used includes 28 sources out to redshifts of two. The studies will begin with an analysis of the radio bridge structure of each source at two or more radio frequencies. Results will be compared with predictions of numerical simulations run with a variety of input parameters, and with predictions from several different analytical models proposed to describe the properties of these sources. There will be substantial undergraduate student involvement in the work. Experience working with undergraduate students at the Berks-Lehigh Valley College of Penn State University indicates that students can contribute in a variety of ways.

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