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Session 39 - AGNs, QSOs, Active Galaxies.
Display session, Wednesday, June 11
South Main Hall,
Deep U-band imaging and polarimetry with the Faint Object Camera on HST of the nucleus of NGC6251 has revealed several regions of emission which are most probably associated with the source of the powerful extended radio jet seen in this galaxy. The most prominent feature of this radiation lies interior to a dust ring, is nearly perpendicular to the radio jet axis, and is seen primarily in the FOC U and b filters. This extension has a low polarization(\le 10%), and is unlikely to arise from line emission. We know of no other examples similar to this. The polarization data reveal regions of high polarization which lie close to the radio axis and within about 20-40 pc of the nucleus. This polarized light we detect is likely to be scattered radiation from a beam of photons originating close to the source of the radio jet. We also see some evidence for radiation extended along or close to the radio axis, but this is very weak and difficult to quantify. The nuclear morphology shows clear similarities to that seen in the nucleus of NGC 4261 except for the extended U-band radiation.
