a Definitive Test for the Excitation Mechanism of Liners

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Hst Proposal Id #6532 Galaxies &Amp, Clusters

Scientific paper

We propose to develop our definitive test which will determinewhether LINERs are photoionized or shock ionized, by obtaining1150--6800 Angstrom FOS spectra of two bright, nearby andunreddened LINER gas disks in the spiral galaxy M81 (NGC 3031)and in the elliptical galaxy NGC 1052. At visiblewavelengths, the emission-line diagnostics which mightdistinguish between excitation mechanisms are ambiguous.However, models generated using our shock and photoionizationcode MAPPINGS II, shows that a comparison between the opticaland UV line intensities provides an unambiguous diagnostic.The shock produces a strong UV emission-line spectrum, whilethe photoionization mechanism does not. In Cycle 5, we wereable to show that the LINER disk in the nucleus of M87 isindeed shock excited, and that the pre-shock gas has anequipartition magnetic field. However, M87 may not be a``typical'' LINERNull. In this cycle we are seeking time totest the model on prototypical LINER nuclei, one in anelliptical, and the other in a spiral host galaxy. If thesealso prove to be excited by magnetohydrodynamic shocks, thiswould provide a powerful new insight into the accretionprocess of AGN, and open up the way for a quantitativeunderstanding of the LINER phenomenon.

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