Abstract
Most quasars and Seyfert 1 galaxies have spectra that rise from optical wavelengths into the 60–100 μm infrared region, beyond which they must suffer a sharp cutoff indicated by the lack of observed millimetre emission. There is evidence1–4 that the infrared emission receives contributions from both thermal emission by interstellar dust and synchrotron radiation from a compact source. Determining the nature of the infrared emission is thus an important step in understanding the structure of quasars and Seyfert 1 galaxies. We report here observations at 438-μm wavelength of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC4151 using the UKT14 bolometer on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We find a 5σ upper limit of 200 mJy in an 11″ aperture. Comparison with an earlier measurement at 155-μm indicates that at least half of the 155-μm flux is due to thermal dust emission. The remainder may be from a synchrotron source which becomes self-absorbed at wavelengths of less than 80 μm.
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Edelson, R., Gear, W., Malkan, M. et al. Evidence from sub-millimetre observations for thermal dust emission in NGC4151. Nature 336, 749–751 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/336749a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/336749a0
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