The role of stars in the energetics of LINERs

Imaging studies have shown that ∼ 25% of LINER galaxies display a compact nuclear UV source. I compare the HST ultraviolet (1150–3200 Å) spectra that are now available for seven such “UV-bright” LINERs. The spectra of NGC 404, NGC 4569, and NGC 5055 show clear absorption-line signatures of massive stars, indicating a stellar origin for the UV continuum. Similar features are probably present in NGC 6500. The same stellar signatures may be present but undetectable in NGC 4594, due to the low signal-to-noise ratio of the spectrum, and in M81 and NGC 4579, due to superposed strong, broad emission lines. The compact central UV continuum source that is observed in these galaxies is a nuclear star cluster rather than a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN), at least in some cases. At least four of the LINERs suffer from an ionizing photon deficit, in the sense that the ionizing photon flux inferred from the observed far-UV continuum is insufficient to drive the optical H I recombination lines. Examination of the nuclear X-ray flux of each galaxy shows a high X-ray UV ratio in the four “UV-photon starved” LINERs. In these four objects, a separate component, emitting predominantly in the extreme-UV, is the likely ionizing agent, and is perhaps unrelated to the observed nuclear UV emission. Future observations can determine whether the UV continuum in LINERs is always dominated by a starburst or, alternatively, that there are two types of UV-bright LINERs: starburst-dominated and AGN-dominated. Interestingly, recent results show that starbursts dominate the nuclear energetics in many Seyfert 2s as well.