Imaging spectrophotometry of ionized gas in NGC 1068. II, Global ionization of the inner disk

Spectrophotometric observations with the Hawaii Imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometer of the Hα and [N II] λλ6548, 6584 lines has detected a diffuse ionized medium pervading the inner ∼10 kpc diameter disk of the nearby, luminous Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068. The physics and dynamics of this energetic gas are distinct from the population of adjacent disk H II regions. The [N II] and CO line dispersions indicate that the diffuse ionized medium is distended to a much larger scale height than the molecular disk.