A KECK/LRIS spatially resolved spectroscopic study of a liner galaxy SDSS J091628.05+420818.7

Abstract

Using spatially resolved spectra obtained with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer at the Keck I telescope, we investigate the nature of ionizing sources and kinematic properties of emission-line gas in a LINER galaxy SDSS J091628.05+420818.7, which is a nearby (z = 0.0241) and bright (Mr = -20.2) early-type galaxy. After subtracting stellar absorption features using a combination of simple stellar population models, we measure the flux, line-of-sight velocity, and velocity dispersion of four emission lines, i.e., Hα, Hβ, [O III]λ5007, and [N II]λ6584, to study radial change of emission-line fluxes and velocities. Compared to the point-spread function of the observation, the emission-line region is slightly extended but comparable to the seeing size. The central concentration of emission-line gas suggests that ionization is triggered by a nuclear source, excluding old stellar population as ionizing sources. We find that emission-line gas is counter-rotating with respect to stellar component and that the [O III]λ5007 line is blueshifted compared to other emission lines, possibly due to an outflow. © 2012 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.