Cousins I-band image (intensities and contours) of the zoomed-in region in NGC 6240. The Cousins I band mostly traces the integrated distribution of the old stellar component. Spectra were extracted at the three locations corresponding to peaks of maximum intensity in the I-band map (N, S1, S2, indicated by circles or ellipses). Also indicated are the positions of the two MERLIN and VLBA radio sources N-G04 and S-G04 (Gallimore & Beswick 2004), and the region Sx between the components S1 and S2. The size of the northern stellar bulge component, based on the near-infrared CaII triplet lines (see Sect. 3.5 and Figs. 3, 9, 10), is indicated by the dashed ellipse. The flux is given in units of 10⁻²⁰ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹ pix⁻¹.