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Alma Mater Studiorum Universit`a degli Studi di Bologna ... - Inaf

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122 6. Faraday rotation in two extreme environments<br />

The results of this analysis can be summarized as follows:<br />

• The polarization position angles accurately follow theλ 2 relation. Together with the<br />

observed low depolarization, this confirms yet again that the Faraday rotation is primarily<br />

in front of the ra<strong>di</strong>o emission. The residual depolarization is consistent with unresolved RM<br />

fluctuations.<br />

• The amplitude of the RM fluctuations in 0755+37 is smaller than for FR I sources embedded<br />

in groups of galaxies (Chapter 5) and comparable to that in NGC 315, which is also in a<br />

very sparse environment (Laing et al. 2006a). This reinforces the hypothesis the most of the<br />

Faraday rotating material is due to the hot atmosphere of the associated galaxy.<br />

• In M 87 the amplitude of the RM fluctuations is typical of that found in other cool-core<br />

clusters such as Cygnus A and Hydra A (e.g. Carilli & Taylor 2002; Laing et al. 2008).<br />

• The profiles ofσ RM (which are not shown) and〈k〉 for both sources have higher average<br />

values for the rece<strong>di</strong>ng lobes. Thus both resolved and sub-beam fluctuations of RM are<br />

higher on the rece<strong>di</strong>ng side (the Laing-Garrington effect; Laing 1988; Garrington et al.<br />

1988).<br />

• Both approaching jets show low and uniform rotation measures. In M 87, the associated<br />

depolarization is also anomalously low.<br />

• There is other evidence for anisotropic RM fluctuations in 0755+37: the lea<strong>di</strong>ng edge of<br />

the W lobe shows arc-like RM structures with sign reversals. These are reminiscent of the<br />

RM bands <strong>di</strong>scussed in Chapter 5. The RM structures of both 0755+37 and M 87 appear<br />

reasonably isotropic elsewhere.<br />

• Except in the restricted areas showing obvious anisotropic structure, it is reasonable to<br />

treat the RM as a Gaussian, random, isotropic variable and to estimate its power spectrum.<br />

The power spectra are well described by power laws with slopes ranging from 2.2 to 2.5<br />

in 0755+37 and slightly steeper (≈3.0) in M 87. These are comparable with the slopes<br />

deduced for 3C 449, 3C 31 (Laing et al. 2008) and the regions not dominated by RM bands<br />

in 0206+35, 3C 270 and 3C 353 (Chapter 5). They are all significantly flatter than the value<br />

of 11/3 expected for Kolmogorov turbulence.<br />

• These power spectra are consistent with the observed depolarization for minimum field<br />

scales of 0.1 kpc in 0755+37 and 0.06-0.25 kpc in M 87. The nearby location and high<br />

surface brightness of M 87 have allowed an accurate determination of its RM power<br />

spectrum on scales smaller than those accessible for other objects.<br />

122

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