HI and radio continuum study of the isolated SBa Seyfert galaxy NGC 3783

Abstract

NGC 3783 is a nearby SBa, type 1 Seyfert galaxy. We present H i and radio continuum images of the galaxy made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). We find that NGC 3783 has an H i mass of 8.4×109 M⊙, an H i diameter of 1.9 D0 (D0=37 kpc for h=0.5), and a nuclear depression in the H i surface density. The H i rotation curve is dominated by differential rotation, with little evidence of warping. The rotation curve suggests a mass-to-light ratio MLB=7.2 and a bar-pattern speed of 19±7 km s−1 kpc−1. The total mass of gas in the inner 50 arcsec is ≳10 per cent of the dynamical mass, and consistent with models that require significant gas content to fuel the Seyfert nucleus. There is no evidence that the nuclear activity in NGC 3783 is being stimulated by an interaction or merger: it may be a self-generated, perhaps bar-driven, process.