The Importance of Shocks in the Ionization of the Narrow Line Region of Seyferts

We discuss the viability of shocks as the principal source of ionization for the Narrow Line Region of Seyfert galaxies. We present the preliminary results of [OIII]5007A and radio 3.6 cm imaging surveys of Seyferts, discuss the effects of shocks in the ionization of two galaxies, and also calculate an upper limit to the Hbeta luminosity that can be due to shocks in 36 galaxies with unresolved radio emission. We show that, for favored values of the shock parameters, that shocks cannot contribute more than ~15% of the ionizing photons in most galaxies.