Bibcode
DOI
Knapen, Johan H.; Shlosman, Isaac; Peletier, Reynier F.
Referencia bibliográfica
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 529, Issue 1, pp. 93-100.
Fecha de publicación:
1
2000
Revista
Número de citas
331
Número de citas referidas
262
Descripción
We present a detailed study of the bar fraction in the CfA sample of
Seyfert galaxies and in a carefully selected control sample of nonactive
galaxies to investigate the relation between the presence of bars and of
nuclear activity. To avoid the problems related to bar classification in
the Third Reference Catalogue (RC3), e.g., subjectivity, low resolution,
and contamination by dust, we have developed an objective bar
classification method, which we conservatively apply to our new
subarcsecond resolution near-infrared (NIR) imaging data set discussed
in the first paper in this series. We are able to use stringent criteria
based on radial profiles of ellipticity and major axis position angle to
determine the presence of a bar and its axial ratio. Concentrating on
noninteracting galaxies in our sample for which morphological
information can be obtained, we find that Seyfert hosts are barred more
often (79%+/-7.5%) than the nonactive galaxies in our control sample
(59%+/-9%), a result which is at the ~2.5 σ significance level.
The fraction of nonaxisymmetric hosts becomes even larger when
interacting galaxies are taken into account. We discuss the implications
of this result for the fueling of central activity by large-scale bars.
This paper improves on previous work by means of imaging at higher
spatial resolution and by the use of a set of stringent criteria for bar
presence and confirms that the use of NIR is superior to optical imaging
for detection of bars in disk galaxies.