GMRT and VLA observations of HI and OH from the Seyfert galaxy Mrk 1

Abstract

We present Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations of the HI 21 cm line and Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the OH 18 cm line from the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 1. HI emission is detected from both Mrk 1 and its companion NGC 451. The HI emission morphology and the velocity field of Mrk 1 are disturbed. We speculate that the nuclear activities of Mrk 1 are triggered by tidal interactions. We have also detected two-component HI 21 cm line and the OH 18 cm line in absorption toward the nucleus of Mrk 1 at blueshifted velocities with respect to its systemic velocity indicating an outflow of atomic and molecular gas. The profile of the OH absorption is qualitatively similar to that of the HI absorption. The higher velocity components of the HI and OH (1667 MHz) absorption lines are blueshifted from the O[III]5007, O[I]6300, and the systemic velocity by ~ 100 km s^{-1}, but are consistent with the O[II]3727 velocity. We explain these velocity discrepancies as due to shock ionization of a region which is pushed forward due to shocks in front of the radio nucleus thereby giving apparent blueshift to HI, OH, and O[II] velocities. The optical depth ratios tau{HI}/tau{OH1667} of both the components of the HI and OH absorption are ~3, indicating their origin in dense molecular clouds. Using OH/A_{v} values for the Galactic molecular clouds, we obtain 9 < A_{v} < 90 toward the line of sight of Mrk 1.