A B S T R A C TWe have observed emission from the nucleus of the closest radio galaxy, Centaurus A, from the radio to the gamma-ray band. We construct, for the first time, its overall spectral energy distribution (SED) which appears to be intriguingly similar to those of blazars, showing two broad peaks located in the far-infrared band and at ,0.1 MeV respectively. The whole nuclear emission of Centaurus A is successfully reproduced with a synchrotron self-Compton model. The estimated physical parameters of the emitting source are similar to those of BL Lacs, except for a much smaller beaming factor, as qualitatively expected when a relativistic jet is orientated at a large angle to the line of sight. These results represent strong evidence that Centaurus A is indeed a misoriented BL Lac, and provide strong support in favour of the unification scheme for low-luminosity radio-loud active galactic nuclei. Modelling of the SED of Centaurus A also provides further and independent indications of the presence of velocity structures in sub-parsec-scale jets.

Abstract. TeV BL Lacertae objects require extreme relativistic bulk motions in the gamma-ray emission region, but at the VLBI scale their radio knots hardly move. The same sources show evidence, in radio, of a structure made of a fast spine plus a slow layer. We propose that this structure exists even on the spatial scale of regions responsible for the gamma-ray emission. One component sees the (beamed) radiation produced by the other, and this enhances the inverse Compton emission of both components. In addition, this allows the magnetic field to be nearly in equipartition with the emitting particles. The inverse Compton emission of the spine is anisotropic in its frame, possibly producing a deceleration of the spine by the Compton rocket effect. In this scenario, the slow layer is also a relatively strong high-energy emitter, and thus radiogalaxies become potentially detectable by GLAST.

In a previous paper we presented a homogeneous and 92% complete optical spectral dataset of the 3CR radio sources with redshift <0.3. Here we use the emission line measurements to explore the spectroscopic properties of the sample. The 3CR sources show a bimodal distribution of excitation index, a new spectroscopic indicator that measures the relative intensity of low and high excitation lines. This unveils the presence of two main sub-populations of radio-loud AGN to which we refer to, following previous studies, as high and low excitation galaxies (HEG and LEG, respectively). In addition to the two main classes, we find one source with a spectrum typical of star forming galaxies, and 3 objects of extremely low level of excitation. All broad-line objects are HEG from the point of view of their narrow emission line ratios and all HEG are FR II radio-galaxies with log L 178 [erg s −1 ] > ∼ 32.8. Conversely LEG cover the whole range of radio power encompassed by this 3CR subsample (30.7 < ∼ log L 178 < ∼ 35.4) and they are of both FR I and FR II type. The brightest LEG are all FR II. HEG and LEG obey to two (quasi) linear correlations between the optical line and extended radio luminosities, with HEG being brighter than LEG in the [O III] line by a factor of ∼10. HEG and LEG are offset also in a plane that compares the black hole mass and the ionizing nuclear luminosity. However, although HEG are associated with higher nuclear luminosities, we find LEG among the brightest radio sources of the sample and with a clear FR II morphology, indistinguishable from those seen in HEG. This suggests that LEG are not simply objects with a lower level of accretion. We speculate that the differences between LEG and HEG are related to a different mode of accretion: LEG are powered by hot gas, while HEG require the presence of cold accreting material. The high temperature of the accreting gas in LEG accounts for the lack of "cold" structures (i.e. molecular torus and broad line region), for the reduced radiative output of the accretion disk, and for the lower gas excitation.

We present a sample of 8 nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies observed by HST and Chandra. All of the sources present soft X-ray emission which is coincident in extension and overall morphology with the [O iii] emission. The spectral analysis reveals that the soft X-ray emission of all the objects is likely to be dominated by a photoionized gas. This is strongly supported by the 190 ks combined XMM-Newton/RGS spectrum of Mrk 3, which different diagnostic tools confirm as being produced in a gas in photoionization equilibrium with an important contribution from resonant scattering. We tested with the code cloudy a simple scenario where the same gas photoionized by the nuclear continuum produces both the soft X-ray and the [O iii] emission. Solutions satisfying the observed ratio between the two components exist, and require the density to decrease with radius roughly like r −2 , similarly to what often found for the Narrow Line Region.