Compact radio sources in and near bright galaxies

Compact radio sources in galaxies stronger than 35 mJy at 2380 MHz from the Arecibo survey of galaxies brighter than a photographic magnitude of +14.5 have been detected and observed at 2695 and 8085 MHz with the NRAO three-element interferometer. Accurate radio and optical positions show that all compact radio sources identifiable with these galaxies are located in their nuclei. Five new BSO (blue stellar object)/galaxy pairs were discovered, and the BSO 0241 +011 lies in a spiral arm of the galaxy U02210 = N1073. The number of BSO/galaxy pairs is compatible with random projection of cosmological QSOs onto bright galaxy fields. Most of the nuclear compact sources, and nearly all of those with flat spectra, are found in E or S0 galaxies. Early Hubble subtypes are favored in spiral galaxies with compact radio sources, and there is a strong tendency for them to occur in paired galaxies. These observations are interpreted in terms of accretion by massive black holes in galactic nuclei.