Radio structures of Seyfert galaxies. V. A flux-limited sample of Markarian galaxies.

A set of 79 Seyfert galaxies from the first nine Markarian lists has been studied. For a given nonthermal optical luminosity, type 2 Seyferts are 40 to 100 times more efficient than type 1 Seyferts at generating radio emission. The 29 objects having 21 cm continuum flux densities above 10 mJy comprise a radio flux limited sample whose members have been mapped with the VLA. Only 11 of them are well resolved by the telescope beam; at least eight of these show linear (i.e., double or triple) structure. A detailed comparison of the radio morphology of type 1 and type 2 Seyfert galaxies is presented and explanations related to nuclear activity in these galaxies are considered.