Unveiling the 100 pc scale nuclear radio structure of NGC 6217 with
  e-MERLIN and the VLA
  We present high-sensitivity 1.51 GHz e-MERLIN radio images of the nearby
galaxy NGC 6217. We resolve the compact radio source at the centre of NGC 6217
for the first time, finding a twin-lobed structure with a total linear size of
~4 arcsec (~400pc). The radio source does not have a compact central core but
there is an unresolved hot spot near the outer edge of the southern lobe.
Combining our e-MERLIN data with new VLA A-Array data and archival
multi-wavelength data, we explore possible scenarios which might explain this
complex radio morphology. We conclude that this radio source is most likely
powered by a low-luminosity AGN (LLAGN) but with a possible important
contribution from nuclear star formation. We also investigate the origin of a
putative X-ray jet in NGC 6217, previously suggested in the literature. This
`jet' consists of three X-ray `knots' in a line, pointed away from the nucleus,
with a total size of ~3 arcmin (~15 kpc). We find no extended radio emission
coincident with the `jet'. An additional compact radio source, aligned with the
knots but without an X-ray counterpart is detected. We detect IR/optical
sources falling within the X-ray extraction regions of the `knots', but note
that these sources could be chance associations due to high source density
around the target field and we estimate the probability of three randomly
aligned X-ray sources to be 0.3 per cent in this field.
