Further clues to the nature of composite LINER/H II galaxies

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2004

Authors

Mercedes E Filho (Author) Other; Fraternali, F (Author) Other; Markoff, S (Author) Other; Nagar, NM (Author) Other; Barthel, PD (Author) Other; Ho, LC (Author) Other; Yuan, F (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Vol. 418

Pages: 429-443

ISSN: 0004-6361

Publisher: EDP Sciences

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 81 Citations

Scopus - 80 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-000-AF3

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20034486

Abstract (EN): We have analyzed new, archival and published high resolution radio and X-ray observations of a sample of composite LINER/H II galaxies known to exhibit AGN-like properties. Five of the 16 AGN candidates have milliarcsecond-scale detections and are found to display a compact, flat spectrum, high brightness temperature radio core, four of which also exhibit extended radio emission. Five of the eight AGN candidates with available high resolution X-ray observations were found to possess a hard X-ray nuclear source, two of which have no milliarcsecond radio detection. The combined high resolution radio and X-ray data yield a 50% detection rate of low luminosity AGN among the AGN candidates, which translates into a 12% detection rate for the entire composite LINER/H II sample. In the sources where the AGN has been unambiguously detected, the ionizing power of the AGN is not sufficient to generate the observed emission lines, unless the hard X-rays are heavily obscured. We attempt to apply a canonical advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) and jet model to the sample sources in order to explain the observed radio and X-ray emission. While ADAFs may be responsible for the observed emission in submillijansky radio cores like NGC 7331, they do not appear consistent with the radio emission observed in the milliarcsecond-scale radio detected cores; the latter sources are more likely to have an energetically important contribution from a radio-emitting jet.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 15