The first ultraviolet spectropolarimetric study of NGC 1068

Arthur D. Code, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Marilyn R. Meade, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Christopher M. Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Kenneth H. Nordsieck, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Geoffrey C. Clayton, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Barbara A. Whitney, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Antonio Mario Magalhães, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Brian Babler, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Karen S. Bjorkman, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Regina E. Schulte-Ladbeck, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Maryjane Taylor, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Abstract

We present the first ultraviolet spectropolarimetric observations of the Type 2 Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 obtained by the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE). In this communication we discuss the continuum polarization in the ultraviolet. Shortward of 2500 Å the polarization becomes constant at 16% at a position angle of 112°. This is in general agreement with the 1983 prediction of Miller and Antonucci and their thick torus model, in which a hidden Type 1 Seyfert nucleus is seen in light scattered by electrons outside the obscured nuclei.