VLA Observations of the giant Radio Galaxy 3C 449

Abstract

In this paper we present multifrequency VLA observations of the giant radio galaxy 3C 449, obtained with high sensitivity and resolution in total intensity and polarized flux. These images show the source morphology in great detail, in particular we detect plumes and wiggles in the low brightness lobes. The source is considerably polarized at all frequencies. The spectral index map between 5 GHz and 8.4 GHz shows that the northern region beyond 1' from the core has a much flatter spectrum than the southern one. We analyse the jet dynamics, and conclude that the jets are relativistic at the beginning, and decelerate significantly within 10" (5 kpc) from the core. We compute the rotation measure, and detect significant values within +-50 rad/m^2 of the expected contribution of our Galaxy. The Faraday effect is likely to originate in an external screen, which is most probably the intergalactic medium of the group of galaxies around 3C pap449.