Optical and infrared spectrophotometry of 18 Markarian galaxies

Slit spectra, spectrophotometric scans, and infrared broad-band observations are presented for 18 Markarian galaxies with emission lines. Eight of the program galaxies can be classified as Seyfert galaxies. Arguments are given that thermal, nonthermal, and stellar radiation components are present. Broadly speaking, one group of Seyfert galaxies is characterized both by the presence of a high-density region of gas and by a continuum dominated by nonthermal radiation. The continua of the remaining program Seyferts, which do not have a high-density region of gas, are dominated by thermal radiation from dust and a stellar continuum. The 10 galaxies which are not Seyfert galaxies are shown to be examples of extragalactic H II regions; there is evidence for thermal emission from dust being present at 10 microns in four of these galaxies.