The Extended Featureless Continuum Source in Cygnus a - Cycle 1 Spectroscopic Follow-Up

Details The Extended Featureless Continuum Source in Cygnus a - Cycle 1 Spectroscopic Follow-Up The Extended Featureless Continuum Source in Cygnus a - Cycle 1 Spectroscopic Follow-Up

Jul 1992

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992hst..prop.4793a&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #4793

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Hst Proposal Id #4793

Scientific paper

Cygnus A is by far the nearest luminous Classical Double radio galaxy.The nuclear spectrum shows the canonical mix of light from old stars, a strong featureless continuum (FC), and a very strong, high ionization emission line spectrum. Several observers have recently come to the astonishing conclusion that the featureless continuum is spatially resolved.(There is no reason to think Cygnus A is unusual in this respect: if other luminous Classical Doubles had the same size optical source, their angular sizes would be too small to resolve from the ground).Furthermore, the obvious explanations of scattered light from a point source, and of optical synchrotron radiation, are strongly disfavored by optical polarization mapping. The only idea seriously considered in the literature for such an extended, unpolarized continuum is the Warmer theory, which unequivocally predicts Fv=v1 in the UV. We want to know whether the spectrum is Fv=v-1 as for quasars, or whether it rises rapidly with frequency as for Warmers. Also, if the 1550A continuum is dominated by normal O stars as in the starburst and some Warmer models we can diagnose it unequivocally via the CIV wind absorption. We cannot reliably determine the spectrum of the featureless continuum from the ground because of contamination by the light of old stars.We would also like to take a WFC picure in the UV, to understand the morphology of the featureless continuum source without confusion with the old stars.

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