Broad infrared line emission from the buried quasar nucleus in Markarian 463

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We present new near-infrared spectroscopy of the eastern nucleus in the luminous merging galaxy Markarian 463, taken with CGS4 at UKIRT. Our spectrum of Mkn 463(E) reveals strong broad Paschen alpha line emission (fwhm =~ 5000kms(-1) ), which we interpret as transmitted radiation from the Broad Line Region of a quasar nucleus. At visual wavelengths this AGN is obscured from direct view by an extinction A_V =~ 3--7 mag and is visible only indirectly through high-excitation narrow line emission, and through scattering of nuclear radiation towards us, from ionized regions which have a ``clear'' view of the continuum source. From the inferred broad line luminosity of Mkn 463(E), we find that the associated blue/ultraviolet quasar continuum should be able to power the high observed IRAS luminosity of the Markarian 463 system through heating of dust grains in the central few hundred parsec. Our conclusions are supported by small-aperture mid-IR spectroscopy, and more recently our own mid-IR imaging. Furthermore, we demonstrate that wavelength-independent electron-scattering of ~ 5 We outline some feasible observational tests of these findings, and their implications for the spectral properties of Markarian 463 at other wavelengths. We also explore briefly how our conclusions may bear on the nature of those IR-luminous galaxies displaying ``warm'' 25--60microns IRAS colors, and their place in schemes for unifying the different classes of active galaxy.

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