[ Joint Center for Astrophysics]
The AGN Zoo

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) come in a wide variety of types (or classes) based primarily on their observational characteristics, although in a number of cases the differences are rather subtle, partial-overlapping and/or historical.


Index: Blazars, LINERs, Quasars, Radio Galaxies, Seyfert Galaxies
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Blazars
A collective term for BL Lacertae type Objects [BL Lacs] and Optically-Violent Variables [OVVs]
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LINERs
Low-ionization Nuclear Emission-Line Region
See also:


Quasars
High-luminosity AGN. Historically also referred to as Quasi-stellar Objects [QSOs] and Quasi-stellar Radio Sources [QSRS], but these distinctions and usages have not commonly used now. Since the relative strength of the radio emission appears fairly bi-modal, usually divided into Radio-loud Quasars [RLQs] (relatively strong radio emission) and Radio-quiet Quasars [RQQs] (relatively weak radio emission)
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Radio Galaxies
Fanaroff-Riley type 1 [FR1s] and Fanaroff-Riley type 2 [FR2s] . Also Broad-Line Radio Galaxies [BLRGs] and Narrow-Line Radio Galaxies [NLRGs]
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Seyfert Galaxies
Named after Carl Seyfert who first published a list of 12 galaxies which showed bright, point-like nuclei and strong, broad emission lines from high-excitation species (Seyfert 1943). Primarily Spiral Galaxies. Usually divided into two main sub-classes based on the characteristics of their optical emission lines: Seyfert 1 Galaxies (broad & narrow lines present), and Seyfert 2 Galaxies (narrow lines only present). However finer sub-sub-classes are usually used to distinguish the subtle differences.
See also: An overview of Seyfert Galaxies, X-ray Observations of Seyfert 1 Galaxies


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