Invited review in The 32nd COSPAR Meeting, The AGN-Galaxy Connection, ed. H. R. Schmitt, A. L. Kinney, and L. C. Ho, Advances in Space Research, 23 (5-6), 813, 1999.

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LINERs AS LOW-LUMINOSITY ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Luis C. Ho

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., MS-42, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.

Carnegie Observatories, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101-1292, USA


ABSTRACT. Many nearby galaxies contain optical signatures of nuclear activity in the form of LINER nuclei. LINERs may be the weakest and most common manifestation of the quasar phenomenon. The physical origin of this class of objects, however, has been ambiguous. I draw upon a number of recent observations to argue that a significant fraction of LINERs are low-luminosity active galactic nuclei.


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