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Beware of Fake AGNs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2010

G. Stasińska
Affiliation:
LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot; Meudon, France
N. Vale Asari
Affiliation:
LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot; Meudon, France Dpto. de Física - CFM - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
R. Cid Fernandes
Affiliation:
Dpto. de Física - CFM - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
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Abstract

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In the BPT diagram, the distribution of the emission-line galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) evokes the wings of a seagull. Traditionally, galaxies in the right wing are considered to host AGNs. Our study of the stellar populations of SDSS galaxies showed that ~ 1/4 of galaxies thought to host LINERs are in fact “retired galaxies,” i.e., galaxies that stopped forming stars and are ionized by hot post-AGB stars and white dwarfs (Stasińska et al. 2008). When galaxies that lack some of the lines needed to place them in the BPT diagram are included, the fraction of retired galaxies is even larger (Cid Fernandes et al., these proceedings).

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

References

Cid Fernandes, R., et al. 2005, MNRAS, 358, 363CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stasińska, G., et al. 2006, MNRAS, 371, 972CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stasińska, G., et al. 2008, MNRAS, 391, L29CrossRefGoogle Scholar