Heckman (1980) has defined Liners as galaxies which have a nuclear optical
spectrum dominated by emission lines from low excitation species
(
3727 >
5007 and
6300 > 1/3
5007).
Liners occur preferentially in galaxies of early Hubble type. They are
characterized by lines whose widths are similar to those in the narrow-line
region of Seyferts but whose luminosity is generally low.
The excitation mechanism of Liners has been highly controversial. Excitation mechanisms that have been proposed include photoionization by a dilute power-law continuum, shock heating, cooling flows, and photoionization by very hot Wolf-Rayet stars or normal O stars ([123]). Liners may be due to a variety of apparently similar but physically distinct phenomena ([187]).