Kinematics and morphology of the narrow-line region in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1386

Abstract

We present a high spatial and spectral resolution 2-D echelle spectrogram of the Narrow-Line Region in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1386. This Seyfert galaxy was observed with CASPEC in the wavelength range 5270-7725 Å which covers the Hα and the [N Ii] lines. With the use of spatially high resolved images taken with the WFPC2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope we could identify individual components of the Narrow-Line Region in our spectra. A Gaussian decomposition of the spectra revealed 9 distinct emission-line complexes. The brightest component is blue-shifted by -120+/-10 km s^-1 with respect to the systemic velocity and shows an offset of ~-1farcs6 relative to the nucleus of the galaxy. The true nucleus of NGC 1386 has a much lower apparent Hα luminosity than this component. The nucleus is probably highly absorbed. Although the majority of the Narrow-Line Region components follows a regular velocity field, we find evidence for a separate kinematic component. The Narrow-Line Region is aligned anti-parallel to the radio-jet which propagates from the center of NGC 1386 to the south. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile