A multifrequency study of possible relic lobes in giant radio sources

Abstract

We present low-frequency observations with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) of three giant radio sources (GRSs, J0139+3957, J0200+4049 and J0807+7400) with relaxed diffuse lobes which show no hotspots and no evidence of jets. The largest of these three, J0200+4049, exhibits a depression in the centre of the western lobe, while J0139+3957 and J0807+7400 have been suggested earlier by Klein et al. and Lara et al. respectively to be relic radio sources. We estimate the ages of the lobes. We also present Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the core of J0807+7400, and determine the core radio spectra for all three sources. Although the radio cores suggest that the sources are currently active, we explore the possibility that the lobes in these sources are due to an earlier cycle of activity.