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A. Young, L. Rudnick (U. Minnesota), D. Katz-Stone (US Naval Academy), C. Butenhoff (U. Calgary), A. A. O'Donoghue (St. Lawrence U.)
In previous studies, we have shown that Wide Angle Tail radio galaxies (WATs) are comprised of narrow, flat spectrum jets, surrounded by more diffuse, steep spectrum sheaths. Here, we present our analysis of VLA observations at L, C, and X bands on WATs 1231+674 and 1433+553. We use both spectral tomography and a new multiresolution filtering technique to explore the spectral index variations between the jet and diffuse emission. Without the confusion of mixed spectral indices, we can obtain a color-color diagram of the WATs and examine their spectral shapes in the context of standard models. While none of the standard models alone could explain the spectrum seen in our similar analysis of Cygnus A, magnetic field irregularities may have significantly affected its spectrum. We will present our new results on the spectral shapes of the jets and diffuse emission and compare our findings with theoretical expectations for the evolution of the electron populations. This work is supported at the University of Minnesota by AST 96-16964 from the National Science Foundation.