Radio and near-infrared observations of the steep-spectrum galactic plane radio source WKB 0314+57.8

Abstract

Radio and near-infrared observations towards the Galactic plane radio source WKB 0314+57.8 are presented, in order to clarify the nature of this source. The radio observations include archival and survey data, together with new Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope observations at 617 MHz. The near-infrared observations are in the J and K bands, from the Gemini instrument on the Shane 3-m telescope. The radio observations show that WKB 0314+57.8 is extended, with a very steep spectrum (with flux density ∝ frequency-2.5 between ≈40 MHz and ≈1.5 GHz). The colour-magnitude diagram constructed from near-infrared observations of the field suggests the presence of a z ≈ 0.08 galaxy cluster behind the Galactic plane, reddened by about 6 mag of visual extinction. Although the steep-spectrum source has no obvious identification, two other radio sources in the field covered by the near-infrared observations have tentative identifications with galaxies. These observations indicate that WKB 0314+57.8 is a relic source in a cluster of galaxies, not a pulsar.