Millimetric radio continuum investigations of active galaxies with the BIMA array

In this paper we present some preliminary results of a 3-mm (86 GHz) radio continuum survey of selected Seyfert galaxies made with the Berkley-Maryland Illinois Millimeter Array (BIMA) in D configuration. The images shown here have spatial resolutions of about two arcminutes after gaussian tapering. At this observing wavelength, we expect to have a negligible non-thermal emission as the spectra is certainly dominated by free-free radio emission. We have measured flux densities and 3 mm luminosities which agree with a thermal blackbody spectra expected from data obtained with the IRAS satellite at wavelengths shorter than 80 μm. Data is presented for NGC3982, NGC5597, NGC5253, NGC1667, and NGC2997 and the main astrophysical consequences of such studies are discussed in this poster. We also argue that radio continuum at millimeter wavelengths is a better observational tool to study the star-formation in active galaxies than conventional infrared photometry.