Adaptive optics near-IR imaging of NGC2992 - unveiling core structures related to radio figure-8 loops

摘要

We present near-IR adaptive optics, VLA radio and HST optical imaging of thenearby Seyfert galaxy NGC2992. Spiral structure and an extension to the Westare traced down to the core region at the limiting resolution of our near-IRimages. A faint, diffuse loop of near-IR and radio emission is also observed tothe north, embedded within the prominent 2 arcsec radio loop previouslyobserved to the northwest. Near-IR color maps, and CO narrowband imaging, arethen used to identify which regions may not be purely reddened stellarpopulations. Our new data provide evidence that the VLA radio-loop morphologyin the shape of a figure-8 represents two components superimposed: 1) outflowbubbles out of the plane of the disk, coincident with the extended emissionline region (EELR); 2) star formation along the spiral arm within the galaxydisk and through the dust lane. The near-IR continuum emission associated withthe outflowing radio bubbles suggest that the radio loops are driven by theactive nucleus.