The nuclear region of NGC 7469

Abstract

We have made spectrophotometric observations of the nuclear and circumnuclear regions of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469, and we analyze the dynamics and structure of the emission-line regions. In the nuclear region of NGC 7469, we found a broad, an intermediate, and a narrow line-emitting region. The broad !ines (FWHM7800 km s-ˡ) are formed within a distance R0.05 pc from the central source. For the narrow­ line region, there is a large range in electron density and a scheme of ionization structure. The circumnuclear stellar population consists mostly of very old stars, and at a distance R 8" from the nucleus, we detected the presence of hot, young stars. The gas at R 8" is nitrogen overabundant.