Other
Scientific paper
Oct 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994apj...434...82g&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 434, no. 1, p. 82-93
Other
57
Emission Spectra, H Alpha Line, Interstellar Matter, Kinematics, Polarized Electromagnetic Radiation, Quasars, Seyfert Galaxies, Astronomical Models, Astronomical Polarimetry, Astronomical Spectroscopy, Electron Scattering, Flux Density, Polarimeters, Red Shift
Scientific paper
We present moderate-resolution (10 A) spectropolarimetry of nine Seyfert 1 galaxies. Four of the objects are either essentially unpolarized (NGC 6212 and NGC 7469) or polarized by interstellar dust in our own Galaxy (III Zw 2 and NGC 6814). The most striking result for the remainder is that all of them show emission-line polarization and show evidence for multiple sources of polarization. Some objects appear to be polarized by dust reflection, others by electron scattering, and at least one by both. These observations rule out simple, axisymmetric models of the Seyfert nuclei and their immediate environment. The high polarization of Mrk 231 results from light reflected by high-velocity dust clouds. The new absorption system reported by Boroson et al. (1991) is visible in our spectra, and we confirm the variability curve of this feature reported by Kollatschny et al. (1992). The spectral polarization structures of Mrk 376 and Mrk 704 are quite similar. In both Mrk 509 and NGC 5548 the H-alpha lines appear broader in polarized flux than in total flux, with P rising above the continuum P in the far wings. We have proposed that Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasars are polarized by scattering preferentially in the plane of a relatively thin disk. However, the variety of effects seen in the polarization spectra of the Seyfert 1's studied show that these simple models are not sufficient to explain the details observed.
Goodrich Robert W.
Miller Jeffrey S.
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