The Structure of Radio Galaxies

Abstract

Discrete radio sources were discovered in large numbers in the late 1940's, but for several years it was an open question whether they were extragalactic objects or members of our Galaxy. The discovery, by Baade & Minkowski (1), of the optical counterpart of Cygnus A made it clear that the majority of the "radio stars" were in fact radio galaxies, distant galaxies having radio luminosities 10 to 106 times greater than that of our own. Once the existence of such objects was established, a number of questions immediately arose concerning the relation of the radio source to the visible galaxy, the physical conditions within the source, and its origin and evolution.

Additional details