Abstract
We have studied the circumgalactic environment of Bright IRAS Galaxies (BIRGs), LINERs, and Seyfert galaxies. The aim of our work was to compare the environment of different types of AGN. We have found that type 2 AGN (LINER 2 and Seyfert 2) shows large companions with a frequency similar to that of BIRGs. This is not the case for type 1 AGN. We suggest that an evolutionary sequence from starbursting systems, to type-2 and eventually to type-1 AGN, may be appropriate for most AGN and may be independent on luminosity.
