Optical colour maps of Seyfert galaxies

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

16

Galaxies: Nuclei, Galaxies: Seyfert, Galaxies: Stellar Content, Galaxies: Structure, Galaxies: Photometry

Scientific paper

We present optical broad band colour maps of nine Seyfert galaxies. In the bands used, the contribution from emission lines to the total flux is relatively small, and hence the images predominantly trace the continuum distribution. The ratios of these images are sensitive to gradients in the stellar populations, and to reddening by dust. We detect ringlike, clumpy or elongated morphological features in several galaxies, which are blue in the $B-I$ index ($V-I$ for NGC 7469). For NGC 7469 there is good spatial agreement with the molecular millimeter CO and radio continuum structure indicating the presence of star forming regions around its Seyfert nucleus. The blue elongations and/or double structures seen in the colour maps of NGC 1068, NGC 3227, NGC 4151, Mrk 3 and Mrk 573 are roughly parallel to their extended radio and NLR emission and probably arise from scattering of nuclear light by extranuclear ``mirrors''. In Mrk 78 and Mrk 348, the structure is not well resolved, possibly because the scattering mirrors are either less efficient and/or further away from the nucleus than in the previous galaxies. In NGC 1667, we detect double red maxima, again possibly related to obscuring material. The colours of the blue maxima are not well determined due to contamination from the underlying bulge, but they are generally consistent with those expected from scattering off dust or electrons. Our findings thus give further support to the current unified models of AGN.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Optical colour maps of Seyfert galaxies does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Optical colour maps of Seyfert galaxies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Optical colour maps of Seyfert galaxies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1780798

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.