Polarized Radio Sources: A Study of Luminosity, Redshift and Infrared Colors

TL;DR

This study investigates the properties of polarized radio sources, analyzing their luminosity, redshift, and infrared colors, revealing that most are elliptical galaxies with active nuclei and showing a weak link between polarization and luminosity.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of polarized radio sources, combining radio and infrared data, and uncovers new insights into their galaxy types and polarization behavior.

Findings

Most polarized sources are elliptical galaxies with active nuclei.

No correlation between redshift and polarization percentage.

Weak correlation between polarization and decreasing luminosity.

Abstract

The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory Deep Field polarization study has been matched with the Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic survey of the European Large Area Infrared Space Observatory Survey North 1 field. We have used VLA observations with a total intensity rms of 87 microJy beam^-1 to match SWIRE counterparts to the radio sources. Infrared color analysis of our radio sample shows that the majority of polarized sources are elliptical galaxies with an embedded active galactic nucleus. Using available redshift catalogs, we found 429 radio sources of which 69 are polarized with redshifts in the range of 0.04 < z <3.2. We find no correlation between redshift and percentage polarization for our sample. However, for polarized radio sources, we find a weak correlation between increasing percentage polarization and decreasing luminosity.