A very long head-tail radio galaxy in the X-ray cluster 2A 0335+096

Abstract

The cluster of galaxies known as 2A0335+096 has been surveyed at 327MHz using the Ooty Synthesis Radio Telescope having a resolution of 110 x 34 arcsec². A very long tail extending at least 8.5 arcmin has been detected, belonging to a radio galaxy located at about 10 arcmin north-west of the centre of the cluster. This is the sixth largest tailed radio galaxy known today. A detailed comparison of the observed structure of the radio tail with the X-ray surface brightness of the intracluster gas has been carried out. The tail appears to bend near the higher density intracluster gas and then follows a near straight path along a nearly constant density contour. The buoyancy forces within the cluster can explain the observed structure of the radio tail. Three new unresolved radio sources are detected in the field of the X-ray cluster. One of them is identified with the central D galaxy in the cluster.