DOUBLE-PEAKED BROAD-LINE EMISSION FROM THE LINER NUCLEUS OF NGC-1097

We report the recent appearance of a very broad component in the Halph a and Hbeta emission lines of the weakly active nucleus of the Sersic- Pastoriza galaxy NGC 1097. Subtraction of the contribution of the stel lar population from our spectra reveals that the FWZI of the broad com ponent is about 21,000 km s-1 and that its profile is double-peaked. T he data also suggest the presence of a blue, featureless continuum in the nucleus. The Halpha/Hbeta flux ratio indicates that the broad-line region (BLR) is not significantly reddened. The broad component was f irst observed in Halpha in 1991 November 2, and confirmed 11 months la ter. The Halpha profile and flux did not change in this time interval. Comparison with previously published spectral data indicates that the broad lines have only recently appeared. Together with the relatively high X-ray luminosity and the compact nuclear radio source, our resul ts characterize the presence of a Seyfert 1 nucleus in a galaxy which had previously shown only LINER characteristics. The simplest interpre tation is that obscuring material along our line of sight to the nucle us has recently cleared, permitting a direct view of the active nucleu s. We discuss two possible structures for the broad line region biconi cal outflow and an accretion disk that could give rise to the observed profile. We also speculate on the relationship between the broad line region and the previously known optical jets, which extend to tens of kpc from the nucleus.