Radio galaxies come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from small scale systems which are either short-lived or “frustrated” by a dense local environment, to giant radio galaxies that would appear larger than the moon if we could see them with the naked eye. Radio galaxies can be curved, have wide tails, be one-sided or simply be the more stereotypical Double Radio-source Associated with Galactic Nuclei (DRAGNs). But even then you can have green DRAGNs and spiral DRAGNs and double DRAGNS… I will talk through the zoo of radio galaxies, explain why we think they look the way they do and highlight some of the questions that modern astronomy is trying to answer about their birth and evolution, as well as how we can use them to probe other astrophysical systems.

This talk is hosted by Anna Scaife

Image courtesy of NASA, ESA, S. Baum and C. O’Dea (RIT), R. Perley and W. Cotton (NRAO/AUI/NSF), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)