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A Radio Study of the Seyfert Galaxy Markarian 6: Implications for Seyfert Life Cycles

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P. Kharb1, C. P. O'Dea2, S. A. Baum1, E. J. M. Colbert3 and C. Xu4

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We have carried out an extensive radio study with the Very Large Array on the Seyfert 1.5 galaxy Mrk 6 and imaged a spectacular radio structure in the source. The radio emission occurs on three different spatial scales: ~7.5 kpc bubbles, ~1.5 kpc bubbles lying nearly orthogonal to them, and a ~1 kpc radio jet lying orthogonal to the kiloparsec-scale bubble. To explain the complex morphology, we first consider a scenario in which the radio structures are the result of superwinds ejected by a nuclear starburst. However, recent Spitzer observations of Mrk 6 provide an upper limit to the star formation rate (SFR) of ~5.5 Msun yr-1, an estimate much lower than the SFR of ~33 Msun yr-1 derived assuming that the bubbles are a result of starburst winds energized by supernova explosions. Thus, a starburst alone cannot meet the energy requirements for the creation of the bubbles in Mrk 6. We then present an energetically plausible model wherein the bubbles are a result of energy deposited by the kiloparsec-scale jet as it plows into the interstellar medium. Finally, we consider a model in which the complex radio structure is a result of an episodically powered precessing jet that changes its orientation. This model is the most attractive as it can naturally explain the complex radio morphology and is consistent with the energetics, the spectral index, and the polarization structure. Radio emission in this scenario is a short-lived phenomenon in the lifetime of a Seyfert galaxy, which results from an accretion event.


Subject headings

galaxies: individual (Mrk 6); galaxies: Seyfert; radio continuum: galaxies


Dates

Issue 1 (2006 November 20)

Received 2006 May 16, accepted for publication 2006 July 11



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