Far-Infrared ISO Maps of Active Galaxies

Pérez García, A. M.; Rodríguez Espinosa, J. M.; Fuensalida, J. J.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 529, Issue 2, pp. 875-885.

Advertised on:
2
2000
Number of authors
3
IAC number of authors
3
Citations
7
Refereed citations
6
Description
Far-IR Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) maps of four Seyfert galaxies are presented and compared with their optical counterpart images. The far-IR maps resemble the optical images of these galaxies when degraded to the ISO resolution. The spatial extension of the far-IR maps is also comparable to the optical extension of these objects, an indication of the extended nature of their far-IR emission. The 90 μm intensity profiles of these galaxies show that there is a disk component noticeable in the far IR. NGC 3079 shows a 90 μm halo extending far out of the galaxy plane. NGC 4051 shows a dark molecular cloud whose far-IR output could be as large as that of the active nucleus itself, demonstrating that very bright IR sources other than the active nucleus may be responsible for a large fraction of the far-IR emission in some Seyfert galaxies. Based on observations made with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA member states (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.