  Context. Cygnus A, as the nearest powerful FR II radio galaxy, plays an
important role in understanding jets and their impact on the surrounding
intracluster medium. Aims. To explain why the nucleus is observed superposed
onto the eastern lobe rather than in between the two lobes, and why the jet and
counterjet are non-colinear. Methods. We made a comparative study of the radio
images at different frequencies of Cygnus A, in combination with the published
results on the radial velocities in the Cygnus A cluster. Results. From the
morphology of the inner lobes we conclude that the lobes are not interacting
with one another, but are well separated, even at low radio frequencies. We
explain the location of the nucleus as the result of the proper motion of the
galaxy through the cluster. The required proper motion is of the same order of
magnitude as the radial velocity offset of Cygnus A with the sub-cluster it
belongs to. The proper motion of the galaxy through the cluster likely also
explains the non-co-linearity of the jet and counterjet.

Astrophysics of Galaxies;Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics