A&A Supplement series, Vol. 129, April II 1998, 329-336
Received December 12, 1996; accepted September 29, 1997
20 cm radio continuum survey of M 31 R. Beck - E.M. Berkhuijsen - P. Hoernes
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
We present a survey of the total and linearly polarized
radio continuum emission of the Andromeda galaxy at 20 cm
wavelength with the VLA-D array. 7 fields were observed with
45
angular resolution. The missing large-scale total
emission observed with the Effelsberg telescope was inserted.
This survey is the most sensitive radio continuum survey of M 31 so
far and the first one in linear polarization with the VLA.
The total emission of M 31 comes from extended regions and point
sources. Both components are concentrated in the bright "ring''
of maximum star formation at about 10 kpc radius. Nearly half of the
extended emission emerges from numerous filamentary features which are
typically a few arcminutes long (
pc). In the field of
M 31, 36 linearly polarized background sources were detected.
The smallest degrees of polarization occur on the centre of the
"ring'' where the total emission is highest, hence on the spiral arms
as delineated by H
emission and OB associations. The
distribution of polarization angles reveals coherent features of
typically 1 kpc in extent, some of which show a relation to an OB
association.
keywords: techniques: interferometric -- galaxies: individual: M 31 -- galaxies: magnetic fields -- radio continuum: galaxies -- polarization