Ultraviolet imaging polarimetry of narrow-line radio galaxies

In an examination of the unification of radio galaxies and quasars, the authors obtained UV polarization images of eight narrow-line radio galaxies (NLRGs) with the Faint Object Camera on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). By observing in the rest ultraviolet, the authors can measure the polarization of the active nucleus with little contamination from unpolarized host-galaxy starlight. If, as the unified model predicts, NLRGs are really quasars with their jets lying in the sky plane, the authors expect to find elongated continua and large polarizations, with the E-vector perpendicular to the UV extent. The observations presented confirm both of these predictions

Duke Scholars

Author Jeffrey L. Krolik Electrical and Computer Engineering