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Register a new userA new search for distant radio galaxies in the southern hemisphere - I. Sample definition and radio properties
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This paper introduces a new program to find high-redshift radio galaxies in the southern hemisphere through ultra-steep spectrum (USS) selection. We define a sample of 234 USS radio sources with spectral indices alpha_408^843 < -1.0 and flux densities S_408 > 200 mJy in a region of 0.35 sr, chosen by cross-correlating the revised 408 MHz Molonglo Reference Catalogue, the 843 MHz Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey and the 1400 MHz NRAO VLA Sky Survey in the overlap region -40 deg < delta < -30 deg. We present Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) high-resolution 1384 and 2368 MHz radio data for each source, which we use to analyse the morphological, spectral index and polarization properties of our sample. We find that 85 per cent of the sources have observed-frame spectral energy distributions that are straight over the frequency range 408-2368 MHz, and that, on average, sources with smaller angular sizes have slightly steeper spectral indices and lower fractional linear polarization. Fractional polarization is anti-correlated with flux density at both 1400 and 2368 MHz. We also use the ATCA data to determine observed-frame Faraday rotation measures for half of the sample.
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We present the first results from a pilot study to search for distant radio galaxies in the southern hemisphere (delta < -32). Within a 360 deg^2 region of sky, we define a sample of 76 ultra-steep spectrum (USS) radio sources from the 843 MHz Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey (SUMSS) and 1.4 GHz NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) radio surveys with alpha_843^1400 < -1.3 and S_1400 > 15 mJy. We observed 71 sources without bright optical or near-infrared counterparts at 1.385 GHz with the ATCA, providing ~5 resolution images and sub-arcsec positional accuracy. To identify their host galaxies, we obtained near-IR K-band images with IRIS2 at the AAT and SofI at the NTT. We identify 92% of the USS sources down to K~20.5. The SUMSS-NVSS USS sources have a surface density more than 4 times higher than USS sources selected at lower frequencies. This is due to the higher effective selection frequency, and the well-matched resolutions of both surveys constructed using the same source fitting algorithm. The scattering of alpha >-1.3 sources into the USS sample due to spectral index uncertainties can account for only 35% of the observed USS sources. Since our sample appears to contain a similar fraction of very distant (z>3) galaxies, selecting USS sources from SUMSS-NVSS should allow us to identify large numbers of massive galaxies at high redshift.
An extensive search for distant Giant radio galaxies on the southern hemisphere is justified. We emphasize the crucial role of optical spectroscopy in determination of their basic physical parameters, i.e. the distance, projected linear size, volume of their lobes or cocoon, luminosity, etc., and argue that SALT will be the best instrument for such a task.
We report the results of a 5 GHz southern hemisphere VLBI survey of compact extragalactic radio sources. These observations were undertaken with the SHEVE array plus Shanghai station in November 1992. A sample of 22 sources was observed and images of 20 of them were obtained. Of the 20 sources imaged, 15 showed core-jet structure, one had a two-sided jet and 4 had only single compact cores. Eleven of the 16 core-jet (including one two-sided jet) sources show some evidence of bent jets. No compact doubles were found. A comparison with previous images and the temporal variability of the radio flux density showed evidence for superluminal motion in 4 of the sources. Five sources were high energy (>100 MeV) gamma-ray sources. Statistical analysis showed the dominance of highly polarized quasars among the detected gamma-ray sources, which emphasizes the importance of beaming effect in the gamma-ray emission.
This is the second in a series of papers presenting observations and results for a sample of 76 ultra-steep-spectrum (USS) radio sources in the southern hemisphere designed to find galaxies at high redshift. Here we focus on the optical spectroscopy program for 53 galaxies in the sample. We report 35 spectroscopic redshifts, based on observations with the Very Large Telescope (VLT), the New Technology Telescope (NTT) and the Australian National Universitys 2.3m telescope; they include five radio galaxies with z>3. Spectroscopic redshifts for the remaining 18 galaxies could not be confirmed: three are occulted by Galactic stars, eight show continuum emission but no discernible spectral lines, whilst the remaining seven galaxies are undetected in medium-deep VLT integrations. The latter are either at very high redshift (z >~7) or heavily obscured by dust. A discussion of the efficiency of the USS technique is presented. Based on the similar space density of z>3 radio galaxies in our sample compared with other USS-selected samples, we argue that USS selection at 843-1400 MHz is an efficient and reliable technique for finding distant radio galaxies.
We have formed a complete sample of 26 low redshift (z < 0.3) giant radio galaxies (GRGs) from the WENSS survey, selected at flux densities above 1 Jy at 325 MHz. We present 10.5-GHz observations with the 100-m Effelsberg telescope of 18 sources in this sample. These observations, together with similar data of the remaining eight sources, are combined with data from the WENSS, NVSS and GB6 surveys to study the radio properties of the lobes of these sources at arcminute resolution. We investigate radio source asymmetries, equipartition energy densities in the lobes, the presence of lobe pressure evolution with redshift, the spectral age and the density of the environments of these sources. We find that the armlength asymmetries of GRGs are slightly larger than those of smaller sized 3CR radio galaxies and that these are difficult to explain as arising from orientation effects only. We also find indications that the lobes of the GRGs, despite their large sizes, are still overpressured with respect to their environment. Further, we argue that any evolution of lobe pressure with redshift in these large sources is due to selection effects. A spectral ageing analysis suggests that the GRGs in our sample are the oldest members of the group of relatively high power radio sources whose radio powers have evolved to their currently observed lower values.
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