An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A member of an important class of → active galaxies which are characterized by the presence of an intensely bright nucleus in the optical wavelengths (10⁹-10¹²Lsun) displaying emission spectral lines. The presence of these emission features, which are not seen in the spectra of normal galaxies, indicates a very high degree of ionization. Moreover, the nucleus radiates → non-thermal  → continuum emission extending over the whole electromagnetic spectrum. It is thought that a → massive black hole in the nucleus of a galaxy accretes gas (→ accretion) from its surrounding environment to power Seyfert galaxies. These galaxies are divided into two types according to the width of their spectral lines. Type 1 Seyfert (Sy 1) galaxies have very broad emission lines (10³- 10⁴ km s^-1), while Type 2 Seyferts (Sy 2) show relatively narrow lines (several hundred km s^-1). These spectral differences may be the result of viewing the nucleus from different angles. A Type 2 Seyfert galaxy may be a mostly edge-on view of matter spiraling in toward the supermassive black hole, whereas a Type 1 Seyfert provides a more pole-on view, allowing us to see the more turbulent region around the black hole.

Named after Carl Keenan Seyfert (1911-1960), the American astronomer who first identified this type of galaxies in 1943; → galaxy.