Radio continuum observations of new radio halos and relics from the NVSS and WENSS surveys

Context. Radio halos and relics are diffuse radio sources found in galaxy clusters showing significant substructure at X-ray wavelengths. These sources provide important information about non-thermal processes taking place in the intracluster medium (ICM). Until now only a few dozen relics and halos are known, while models predict that a much larger number of these sources exist. In this paper we present the results of an extensive observing campaign to search for new diffuse radio sources in galaxy clusters.