Seyfert Galaxies are a small class of galaxies (spirals) that have very small, intensely bright nuclei, whose broad emission lines (in spectrograms) indicate that the atoms present are in a very high state of-activity. They are powerful emitters of radio energy and several emit an enormous amount of energy in the infrared. They also emit in the ultraviolet.

The emission lines in Seyfert galaxies have only modest red shifts. The very compact nuclei observed in these galaxies indicate that the gases in them are in a high state of excitation and are traveling at high speed in clouds and filaments. It is now believed that the intense outbursts of energy observed in Seyfert galaxies may be normal to all galaxies and that even our own galaxy may experience such a renewal, from time to time.

Copyright (c) 1997-99 Michael Erlewine