IMAGING POLARIMETRY OF THE SEYFERT-GALAXY IC-4329A

The edge-on dust lane of IC 4329A shows significant levels of polariza tion oriented parallel to the lane, which suggests that there is a mag netic field in the plane of this galaxy which is uniform on kpc scalel engths. Although the Seyfert 1 nucleus is seen through the polarizing dust lane, it appears to have an additional, intrinsically polarized c omponent with a position angle approximately parallel to the galactic plane. We suggest that the intrinsic nuclear polarization arises from dust scattering in an asymmetric geometry, possibly involving an inner torus, surrounding the central AGN. The relative orientations of the axes of the AGN and the disc of the host galaxy may have been influenc ed by a recent interaction between IC 4329A and its massive neighbour IC 4329.