Seyfert galaxies: Nuclear Radio Structure and Unification

TL;DR

This study investigates the radio structures of Seyfert galaxies to test the unified scheme hypothesis, finding similar properties in Seyfert 1 and 2 types, supporting the unification model.

Contribution

The paper provides the first comprehensive comparison of pc-scale and kpc-scale radio properties of Seyfert galaxies, supporting the unified scheme hypothesis.

Findings

Seyfert 1 and 2 galaxies have similar radio structures and luminosities.

No evidence of relativistic beaming in Seyfert galaxies.

Radio properties support the unified scheme hypothesis.

Abstract

A radio study of a carefully selected sample of 20 Seyfert galaxies that are matched in orientation-independent parameters, which are measures of intrinsic active galactic nuclei (AGN) power and host galaxy properties is presented to test the predictions of the unified scheme hypothesis. Our sample sources have core flux densities greater than 8 mJy at 5 GHz on arcsec-scales due to the feasibility requirements. These simultaneous pc-scale and kpc-scale radio observations reveal (i) that Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies have equal tendency to show compact radio structures on mas-scales, (ii) the distributions of pc-scale and kpc-scale radio luminosities are similar for both Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies, (iii) no evidence for relativistic beaming in Seyfert galaxies, (iv) similar distributions of source spectral indices in spite of the fact that Seyferts show nuclear radio flux density variations, and (v) the distributions of projected linear size for Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies are not significantly different as would be expected in the unified scheme. The latter could be mainly due to a relatively large spread in the intrinsic sizes. We also find that a starburst alone cannot power these radio sources. Finally, an analysis of the kpc-scale radio properties of the CfA Seyfert galaxy sample shows results consistent with the predictions of the unified scheme.