Anomalous arms of the spiral galaxy NGC 4258
The nature of the optical emission of the southern anomalous arms of the spiral galaxy NGC 4258 is investigated. High-resolution spectral scans at H-alpha have been obtained with a Fabry-Perot spectrometer. No spectral line was detected, indicating that the emission of these arms is probably mostly continuum. A search for high optical polarization with polarizing filters and a photon-counting camera resulted in an upper polarization limit of 5 percent (1 sigma), eliminating synchrotron radiation as an important contribution to the optical emission of the arms. It remains to be established whether the optical anomalous arms are made of late-type stars or perhaps emitters of nonthermal continuum. 20 references.
- Research Organization:
- Universite Laval, Quebec, Canada
- OSTI ID:
- 5516668
- Journal Information:
- Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac.; (United States), Journal Name: Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac.; (United States) Vol. 97; ISSN PASPA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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