Context: The dusty nuclear regions of luminous infra-red galaxies (LIRGs) are
heated by either an intense burst of massive star formation, an active galactic
nucleus (AGN), or a combination of both. Disentangling the contribution of each
of those putative dust-heating agents is a challenging task, and direct imaging
of the innermost few pc can only be accomplished at radio wavelengths, using
very high-angular resolution observations. Aims: We observed the nucleus A of
the interacting starburst galaxy Arp 299, using very long baseline
interferometry (VLBI) radio observations at 1.7 and 5.0 GHz. Our aim was to
characterize the compact sources in the innermost few pc region of Arp 299-A,
as well as to detect recently exploded core-collapse supernovae. Methods: We
used the European VLBI Network (EVN) to image the 1.7 and 5.0 GHz compact radio
emission of the parsec-scale structure in the nucleus of Arp 299-A with
milliarcsecond resolution. Results: Our EVN observations show that one of the
compact VLBI sources, A1, previously detected at 5.0 GHz, has a flat spectrum
between 1.7 and 5.0 GHz and is the brightest source at both frequencies. Our
1.7 GHz EVN image shows also diffuse, low-surface brightness emission extending
westwards from A1 and displays a prominent core-jet structure. Conclusions: The
morphology, radio luminosity, spectral index and ratio of radio-to-X-ray
emission of the A1-A5 region is consistent with a low-luminosity AGN (LLAGN),
and rules out the possibility that it is a chain of young radio supernovae
(RSNe) and supernova remnants (SNRs). We therefore conclude that A1-A5 is the
long-sought AGN in Arp 299-A. This finding may suggest that both starburst and
AGN are frequently associated phenomena in mergers.Comment: Accepted for publication in Letters to Astronomy and Astrophysics on
12 August 2010. 4 pages, 1 figur
