Abstract
NGC 1052 is an E4 galaxy and classified as a typical LINER harboring a stellar rotating disk. However, the central region is spectroscopically unusual with broad optical emission lines, the nature of its emission line gas remains unclear. According to recent studies NGC 1052 exhibit Hα luminosities an order of magnitude above that estimated for an evolved population of extreme horizontal branch stars. Their Hα equivalent widths and optical-to-near infrared (NIR) spectral energy distributions are consistent with them being young stellar clusters aged < 7 Myr, and according to previous works, NGC 1052 may have experienced a merger event about 1 Gyr ago. There are mainly three possibilities to explain LINER's spectra: i) post asymptotic giant branch stars (post-AGB) that ionize their rapidly expanding shells, (ii) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) powered by the in fall of matter into an accretion disk, and (iii) shocks. The stellar population (SP) of AGNs shows an excess of intermediate age stars. Besides, NIR stellar population studies have revealed that the continuum of active galaxies is dominated by the contribution of intermediate age stellar populations. Hot dust emission unresolved is also commonly detected in NIR nuclear spectra of galaxies Seyfert and LINERs. Aimed to discriminate the dominant ionizing source of NGC 1052 we present preliminary results of high spatial resolution integral field spectroscopy, taken with gemini NIFS to map the dominant stellar population, as well as disentangling the featureless and hot dust components.
