High-resolution radio observations of the X-ray galaxy NGC 3862 (3C 264).

The radio source 3C 264, identified with the X-ray-emitting elliptical galaxy NGC 3862 in the rich cluster Abell 1367, has been mapped with resolutions from 2 to 8 arcsec at 1465 MHz using 14 antennas of the VLA. The new data delineate three main structural components: a small-diameter core in the galactic nucleus, a jet-like feature about 900 pc long emanating from the core, and an amorphous emission plateau about 11 x 6 kpc in radius around, but not centered on, the nucleus. The plateau occupies a region near the intersection of two large-scale radio trails extending from NGC 3862 and covers much of the optical extent of the galaxy on the Palomar Sky Atlas. The unusual amorphous plateau of emission can be interpreted as a rare class of diffusion-dominated structure formed by particles escaping from the moving active nucleus of NGC 3862. It might also however be a rapidly broadening 'wide trail' source observed almost along the line of its inner structure.