Nuclear Star-forming Structures and the StarburstActive Galactic Nucleus Connection in Barred Spirals: NGC 3351 and NGC 4303

摘要

A high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 F218W UV image of the barred spiral NGC 4303 (classified as a LINER-type active galactic nucleus [AGN]) reveals for the first time the existence of a nuclear spiral structure of massive star-forming regions all the way down to the UV-bright unresolved core (size ≤8 pc) of an active galaxy.