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K. M. Leighly, L. E. Kay, J. P. Halpern (Columbia University), A. M. Magalh\~aes (IAGUSP)
We report results from high signal-to-noise spectropolarimetry from 4400 to 7400 angstroms of the bright Seyfert 1 galaxies MCG-6-30-15 and Fairall 51 obtained at the CTIO 4-meter telescope using a visitor polarimetry unit on the RC Spectrograph.
We found that the continuum polarization in both objects was high. In MCG-6-30-15 it increased from 4% on the red end to 5% on the blue end, and in Fairall 51 it increased from 3.5% on the red end to 8% on the blue end. In both objects, the bulk of the polarization occurs inside of the AGN rather than in the host galaxy, as the forbidden lines are less polarized that the continuum and the permitted lines. In both objects, the permitted lines are more polarized that the continuum, and rotation of the polarization position angle across H\alpha is observed. This implies that additional scattering is occurring within the broad line region.
Detailed analysis and implications for the geometry of the scattering material and the broad line region will be discussed.
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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: leighly@ulisse.phys.columbia.edu