1997/09/24 by J. H. Knapen, S. Laine, Seppo Laine +7 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Active galactic nucleus #Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing #Advanced Measurement and Metrology Techniques #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Infrared #Interferometry #Luminous infrared galaxy #Nucleus #Physics #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/311015
8 pages, Latex. 4 postscript files. Better quality version of figure 1 available from ftp://star.herts.ac.uk/pub/Knapen/mrk273 . Accepted, ApJ Letters
arxiv created 1997/09/24 · openalex publication_date 1997/11/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We have studied the core morphology of the ultraluminous infrared galaxy Mrk 273 by combining a high-resolution adaptive optics near-infrared image with an optical image from the Hubble Space Telescope and interferometric radio continuum data, all at spatial resolutions of 150 mas or better. The near-infrared image reveals that the nucleus has two main components, both of which have radio counterparts. The strongest component (N) shows very similar extended structure in the radio and near-infrared. It has a flat radio spectrum and is resolved into a double-lobed structure (Ne; Nw), with a separation of 90±5 mas (70 pc). A similar structure is detected in the near-infrared. We identify this component as the location of the active nucleus. The second component (SW), strong in the near-infrared but relatively weak in the radio, is located ~1'' to the southwest. We interpret this as an obscured starburst region associated with the merger. The radio continuum images show a third, strong, component (SE) that has previously been interpreted as a second nucleus. However, it shows no associated optical or near-infrared emission, which suggests that it is in fact a background source.