Beware of Fake AGNs

In the BPT diagram, the distribution of the emission-line galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) evokes the wings of a seagull. Traditionally, galaxies in the right wing are considered to host AGNs. Our study of the stellar populations of SDSS galaxies showed that ~ 1/4 of galaxies thought to host LINERs are in fact “retired galaxies,” i.e., galaxies that stopped forming stars and are ionized by hot post-AGB stars and white dwarfs (Stasińska et al. 2008). When galaxies that lack some of the lines needed to place them in the BPT diagram are included, the fraction of retired galaxies is even larger (Cid Fernandes et al., these proceedings).