Powerful relativistic jets in spiral galaxies

TL;DR

This paper explores the presence and properties of powerful relativistic jets in spiral galaxies, focusing on gamma-ray emitting Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies and comparing them with blazars and Galactic binaries.

Contribution

It provides new insights into relativistic jets in spiral galaxies and compares different classes of jet-hosting systems across a range of masses and accretion rates.

Findings

Gamma-NLS1s host relativistic jets similar to blazars.

Distinctive properties of gamma-NLS1s include small black hole masses and high accretion rates.

Comparison reveals similarities and differences across systems with varying masses.

Abstract

The discovery of high-energy (E>100 MeV) gamma rays from Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies (gamma-NLS1s) has confirmed the presence of powerful relativistic jets in this class of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Although the jet emission is similar to that of blazars and radio galaxies, gamma-NLS1s have some striking differences: relatively small masses (10^6-10^8 M_sun), high accretion rates (0.1-1 times the Eddington limit) and are generally hosted by spiral galaxies. It is now possible to study a rather unexplored range of mass and accretion rates of AGN with relativistic jets. Specifically, in this work I present some results obtained by comparing a sample of blazars and gamma-NLS1s with another sample of Galactic binaries with relativistic jets (stellar mass black holes and neutron stars).