The HST snapshot survey of the B2 sample of low luminosity radio-galaxies: a picture gallery

Abstract

A Hubble Space Telescope snapshot survey of the B2 sample of low luminosity radio galaxies has, at present, produced V and I images of 41 objects. Together with 16 images of B2 sources taken from the HST archive, there are now high resolution optical data for ~ 57% of the sample. All host galaxies are luminous ellipticals, except one which is a spiral galaxy, while another one turns out to be a misidentification. We present an album of the images of the B2 radio galaxies observed so far, and give a brief description of the optical morphology of the galaxies. Dust features (in the form of disks, lanes or irregular patches) are seen in most of the galaxies of the sample, ~ 58%. Compact optical cores are also very common (18/57). A preliminary analysis has revealed the presence of an optical jet in three objects, indicating they can be detected in a sizeable percentage in these low luminosity radio sources. Brightness profiles of dust-free galaxies are well represented by a Nuker law and all shows the existence of a resolved shallow cusp. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555 and by STScI grant GO-3594.01-91A