3C 132 is classified as a Fanaroff-Riley class Type 2 low-excitation radio galaxy.[4] The host galaxy is an elliptical galaxy with a smooth and elongated appearance, but is also described as an interactingirregular galaxy[5][6] The galaxy is also surrounded by several companions forming a packed group, suggesting it also resides inside a galaxy cluster.[5][7] A face-on disk is found in the galaxy described to have an elliptical isotphotal morphology.[8] Imaging made by Hubble Space Telescope (HST) found a bright central nucleus.[9] This nucleus is described as being surrounded by faint diffused radio emission.[10]
The radio source of the galaxy is a classical double, with two components having a fluxratio of 1.6 ± 0.3.[11] When observed at high resolutions with the Very Large Array (VLA) it has hotspot regions protruding in a bottle-neck fashion, with brightening observed in its radio lobe located on the eastern side, just along the southern edge. The hotspot on the western side is 800 parsecs in extent .while the eastern one is estimated to be 2 kiloparsecs. A curved feature interpreted as backflow is leaving the location of the western hotspot towards the southeast. Upon reaching seven kiloparsecs from the hotspot, a bend is observed in the feature before subsequently ending inside a region of diffused medium.[12] There is also a radio bridge present in the source, perpendicular towards its axis.[13]
A study in 2014 showed the edge-brightened lobes of the galaxy on the southwest and northwestern sides have the same brightness. Upon observation, the lobes are shown flaring towards the direction of the core. A knot feature described as faint is located inside the southeastern lobe, apparently bridging a delineated section and a diffused region.[14]
